Proceedings of the General Anti-slavery Convention : called by the committee of the British and Foreign Anti-slavery Society, and held in London, from Friday, June 12th, to Tuesday, June 23rd, 1840

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PROCEEDINGS

OF THE GENERAL

ANTI-SLAVERY CONTENTION,

CALLED BY THE COMMITTEE OF THE

BRITISH AND FOREIGN ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY,

HELD IN LONDON,

FRIDAY, JUNE 12m, to TUESDAY, JUNE 23rd, 1840.

BRITISH AND FOREIGN ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY,
27, NEW BROAD STREET;

PREFACE,

In committing the following work to the press, the Committee of the
British aud Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, feel that they are not
merely performing the duty devolved on them by the Convention, in
presenting to the world a faithful record of their proceedings, but are
essentially promoting the great object for which that distinguished body
of philanthropists met, namely, the universal Abolition of Slavery and
the Slave-Trade.

The extent of these giant evils may be gathered from a brief state-
ment of facts. In the United States of America, the slave population
is estimated to be 2,750,000 ; in the Brazils, 2,500,000 ; in the Spanish
Colonies, 600,000 ; in the French Colonies, 265,000; in the Dutch
Colonies, 70,000 ; in the Danish and Swedish Colonies, 30,000 ; and in
Texas, 25,000 ; besides those held in bondage by Great Britain, in the
East Indies, and the British settlements of Ceylon, Malacca, and
Penang, and by France, Holland, and Portugal, in various parts of
Asia and Africa, amounting in all to several millions more ; and exclu-
sive also of those held in bondage by the native powers of the East,
and other parts of the world, of whose number it is impossible to form
a correct estimate.

To supply the slave-markets of the Western world, 120,000 native
Africans arc, on the most moderate calculation, annually required;
whilst the slave-markets of the East require 50,000 more. In procuring
these victims of a guilty traffic to be devoted to the rigours of perpetual
slavery, it is computed that 280,000 perish in addition, and under cir-
cumstances the most revolting and afflicting.

But this is not all. In the southern section of the United States,
and in British India, a vast internal slave-trade is carried on, second
only in horror and extent to that which lias so long desolated and
degraded Africa.

These facts exhibit also the magnitude of the responsibility which
devolves upou Abolitionists : in view of it they may well be allowed

to disclaim, as they do, all sectarian motive, all party feeling : " Glory
to God in the highest, on earth peace, good will to men" is their aim ;
consistently with the blessed character of this gospel anthem, they
recognise no means as allowable for them, in the prosecution of their
holy enterprise than those which are of a moral, religious, and
pacific nature ; in the diligent use of these means, and trusting in
God, they cherish the hope that, under His blessing, they may be per-
mitted to accomplish the great work to which they are devoted, and
thus be made instrumental in advancing the sacred cause of Freedom,
and its attendant blessings, Civilization and Eeligion, throughout the

The followiug scheme was prepared by the Committee, for the
purpose of facilitating the business of the Convention ; not to rule
or limit the discussions of the assembled delegates, but to give
them form and order, and to suggest topics of interest and impor-
tance connected with the vast and momentous question of slavery.

I. Slavery.

1. General view op Slavery. — Define Slavery ; various kinds.

(1.) Its essential sinfulness, and its opposition to the genius
and precepts of the Gospel.

(2.) Its impolicy with relation to commerce, population, &c.

(3.) Its influence on legislation, and the security of society.

(4.) Its moral influence on the character of the euslaver and
the enslaved.

' (5.) Its opposition to the advance of civilization, education,
and Christianity.

2. Present operation of Slavery. — Numler of i

features of I
(1.) British India and Ceylon.
(2.) French West Indies.
(3.) Spanish West Indies.
(4.) Dutch colonial possessions.

(5.) Danish West Indies.

(6.) Swedish West Indies.

(7.) United States.

(8.) Texas.

(9.) South America.

(10.) Mohammedan countries.

II. Slave- Trade.

(1.) Its nature — means of obtaining slaves — deportation and
middle passage— its physical, commercial, political, and moral
effect.

(2.) Its progress and present extent— victims of professed
Christian nations— State of the internal Slave-trade in the
United States of America— victims of Mohammedans.

(3.) Causes of its continuance and ii

III. Results of Emancipation, and op the efforts for
Abolishing the Slave-Trade.
1. Emancipation.

(1.) Progress of emancipation — Hayti— South American
Republic — British Colonies.

(2.) Success of free labour — advantage to property— profit
to employer and labourer.

(3.) Emigration to emancipated colonies — Europeans — Afri-
cans, by engagement, capture from slavers— natives of British
India.

(4.) Condition of the Emancipated— physical, intellectual,
moral, civil, social— hardships— Prejudice of Colour— Freedom
of Eights— Protection of the Emancipated and their friends-
United States— Canada— Hayti— Free States of South Ame-
rica— Brazil— the British West Indies.

2. Slave-trade Abolition.

(1.) Progress of the Slam-Trade Abolition— Britain— Con-
tinental nations — America.

(2.) Failure of the means employed in the suppression of
the Trade — Treaties — Armed Force.

(3.) Remaining obstacles.

(4.) Condition of liberated Africans — at Sierra Leone — Cape
of Good Hope — Liberia— Cuba— Surinam— Rio— West Indies.

IV. Plans fob securing Universal Emancipation, and the

ENTIRE ABOLITION OF THE SLAVE-TRADE.

The difficulties should be noticed, and the delusiveness of any tran-
sition state exhibited.
(1.) The general principle of immediate and entire Abolition

by the overthrow of slavery the demand for the slave-trade

shall cease— plans of a pacific, moral, and religious nature.

(2.) Measures — Intercourse of abolitionists — frequent con-
ference on their several plans — notice plans.

Propriety of withholding Christian fellowship from Slave-
holders, their abettors and apologists ; and the faithful exposure
of the abuses and enormities of the system.

Fiscal, commercial, social, and domestic arrangements for
discouraging slave produce, and promoting the use of free-
grown.

International : — Free Governments endeavouring to influence
others that tolerate either Slavery or the Slave-trade.
The influence of literature.

Christian addresses to Pastors and Churches implicated in
the maintenance of the system.

Testimonies emanating from collective Societies of Christians
and of Abolitionists.

Future Conventions promotive of these objects.

Conclusion.
General review of the state of Bondsmen throughout the
wor ld — the duty of Christians — the prospects ■ of the Anti-
slavery Body — recognizing the importance of prayer for the
Divine blessing to secure success.

CONTENTS,

ORDER OF PROCEEDINGS FROM DAY TO DAY.

FIRST DAY.

p

Page 1—46.
Opening of the Convention in Freemason's Hall. Thomas
Clarkson, Esq., appointed Chairman. Address of Chairman.
Letter from Lord Brougham. Vice-Chairmen appointed.
Summons of the Convention read. Appointment of Secretaries
and Press Committee. Business Regulations. Addresses of
D. O'Connell, Esq., M.P., G. Bradbtjrn, Esq., &c. Expo-
sition of the objects of the Convention, by Rev. T, Scales.
Address of Mr. H. Beckford, of Jamaica, one of the eman-
cipated. Motion of W. Phillips, Esq., for a roll of membership;
Amendment on that Motion. Prolonged discussion as to the
admission of Female Delegates. Amendment carried. Close
of First Day's Proceedings 1—

SECOND DAY— MORNING.

Page 46—104.
Introduction of French Delegates. Paper by Rev. B. Godwin
on the Essential Sinfulness of Slavery, and its direct opposi-
tion to the Spirit and Precepts of Christianity, referred to a
Committee, together with Resolutions of Rev. C. Stovel, pro-
posing to make Slavery a subject of Church discipline.
Arneudment, extended discussion. Original resolution carried.
Close of Morning's sittings 46—

EVENING.

Paper by Professor Adam on Slavery and the Slave-Trade in
British India. Act of the House of Commons to terminate
Slavery in India, defeated in the House of Lords. East India
Sugar the Produce of free labour. Committee on Professor
Adam's paper. Rev. W. Bevan's paper on the Moral Influ-
ence of Slavery. Letter of Dr. Channing. Mr. Alexander
on Slavery in the Danish West India Colonies. Crab Island.
Committee on Danish Islands, Committee on Anti-slavery
enterprise in North America. Close of Evening sittings 77 — 1

THIRD DAY— MORNING.

Page.
Page 104—147.
Committee on Free Labour. Committee on Results of Emanci-
pation in British Colonies. J. G. Birney, Esq., on American
Slavery. Resolutions condemnatory of trie attempt of the
United States' Government to convert the pretensions of Slave-
holders into lights, and to engraft them into international law.
American Charter of Independence: Slaves in Columbia.
Resolution on Anti-slavery literature.- English literature
garbled to adapt it for circulation in the slave states. Ame-
rican Ambassador. Close of Morning sitting. . 104 — 12G

EVENING.
Anti-Slavery Literature continued. Sanction given to Slavery by
the Clergy. Charge against Ministers from England. Preju-
dice against colour. Replies to Queries of British and Foreign
Anti-Slavery Society on Slavery in the United States, referred
to a Committee, to report on their Publication. Close of
Evening sitting 126—147

FOURTH DAY— MORNING.

Page 148—207.
French Slavery. Credentials of the French Delegates. Paper
by D. Turnbull, Esq., on Slavery in the French colonies, and
plan for effecting its abolition. Speeches of French Delegates,
Messrs. Isambert, Cremieux, and Laure. Code Noir. Com-
mittee to prepare Address to the French people. Mr. O'Con-
nbll on inequality of the sexes, and births and deaths in the
French islands. M. L'Instant on the emancipation of St.
Domingo. Its independence recognised by France, and not by
England. Close of Morning sitting. . . . 148—181

EVENING.

Mr. Alexander on Slavery in the Dutch colonies. Results of
Messrs. Alexander and Whitehorne's visit to Holland.
Slavery in St. Bartholomew, an island belonging to Sweden.
Mr. Alexander's visit to Stockholm. Committee to report on
the state of Dutch slavery, and prepare an address to the
people of Holland. Dr. Bowring on Mohammedan slavery.
Report of an interview with Mohammed Ali on the subject of
Slave hunts. Committee to consider the best methods of assist-
ing to suppress slavery in the Mohammedan countries. Thanks to
Dr. Bowring for translating the addresses of French Delegates.
On international intercourse, and right of the Convention to
address Foreign Governments. Questions on British manufac- ,
tures prepared for the purposes of slavery. Close of Evening
sitting 181—207

CONTENTS. IX

FIFTH DAY— MORNING.

Page.
Page 207—267.
Mr. Scoble on the present state of the Afriean Slave-trade. Dr.
Madden on Cuhan slavery. Ameriean slave vessels seized by a
British cruizer, and carried for trial into an American port.
Dr. Madden' s paper on Cuban Slavery, referred to a Committee
for translation into the Spanish language. American Coloniza-
tion Society. Liberia. Further testimony to the state of
Slavery in Cuba. Questions respecting the free black popula-
tion of Cuba. Close of Morning sitting. . . . 207—251

EVENING.

Mr. TmiNBtTLij's plan for the suppression of the African Slave-
trade. Motion to refer the plan to a Committee. Report on
Volume of Replies to Queries, upon American slavery, brought
up and adopted. Resolutions respecting the slavery of Moham-
medan countries. Motion for preparation of Memorial to the
Viceroy of Egypt. Motion for a Memorial to British Govern-
ment on the holding of slaves by British functionaries. . Com-
mittee to inquire into manufactures in this country for the
purposes of Slavery and the Slave-trade. Close of Evening
sitting 251— 2C7

SIXTH DAY-MORNING.

Page 267—334.
Report brought up on Mr. Godwin's paper ; and Resolutions
upon Church-fellowship with Slave-holders. Letter of Judge
Jay on the duties of Ministers of Religion. Motion for
adopting the Resolutions; Amendment proposed; discussion.
Amendment withdrawn. Second Amendment. Reference to
declarations of Synods, Presbyteries, and Associations of Ame-
rican Ministers in vindication and support of Slavery. Reso-
lutions as amended, carried unanimously ; the whole assembly
standing. Close of Morning sitting. . . . 2C7— 301

EVENING.

Canada. Numerous testimonies to their loyalty, integrity, i.
general good conduct. Resolutions respecting prejudice against
colour. Facts illustrative of its operation. Additional clause
proposed. Resolutions referred to a Sub-Committee. Paper of
Rev. H. Beaver, on the slavery of Red Indians under the
Hudson's Bay Company. Referred to a Sub-Committee.
Close of Evening sitting 302 — 334

SEVENTH DAY— MORNING.

Page 334—410.
Report of the Committee on Free Labour. Results of Emanci-
pation in the West Indies. Oppressive and unjust laws still
in operation, and attempts of the planters and colonial legisla-
tures to frame and enforce new laws of a pernicious character.
Bill for transportation of Hill Coolies into the West India
colonies. Close of Morning sitting 334 — 384

EVENING.

Discussion resumed on the results of Emancipation. Jamaica
Land Company. Stipendiary Magistrates. Compensation.
Report on Free Labour adopted. Resolutions of the Free
Labour Committee. Further proofs of the beneficial results of
emancipation in the West Indies. Rider to resolutions pro-
posed. Discussion adjourned. Close of Evening sitting. 384 — 410

EIGHTH DAY— MORNING.

Page 410—463.
Resolutions on Free Labour resumed. Rider negatived. Growth
of cotton in India. Cotton the main stay of slavery in Ame-
rica. Jamaica laws incidentally noticed. Free labour resolu-
tions amended and adopted. Notice of General Assembly of
Presbyterian church in Philadelphia. Close of Morning-
sitting 410-433

EVENING.

Slavery in Mohammedan countries. Address to Lord Palmeb-
ston. Address to the Pacha of Egypt. Abstinence from
slave produce practised by many abolitionists in America.
Discussion of the principle. Amendment proposed. Second
amendment carried. Report of the Committee on East India
slavery. Number of Slaves in British India. Slavery in
Texas. Missouri struggle. Compensation condemned. British
Functionaries in slave countries holding slaves ; memorial to
Secretary of State against the practice. Committee to prepare
Address to Heads of Governments. Close of Evening sit-

ting.

NINTH DAY— MORNING.

Page 463—511.
n Mr. Titrnbull's plan for suppression of the Slave-
trade. Objection to appeal to Governments on religious
grounds. Amendment proposed and carried. Cruel law
against persons of colour in the state of Alabama. Free sub-
jects of British government' sold for slaves in America. Reso-

CONTENTS.

Page

lutions on Mr. Turnbull's plan amended and earned. Mr.
Turnbull's plan reeorded. Internal slave-trade of tlie North
Ameriean Union. Slavery and slave-trade of tlie Brazils.
Committee to eonsider and report upon it. Resolution of sym-
pathy with the Baptist Missionaries of Jamaica. Testimonies
to the serviees of Rev. "William Knibb. Close of Morning
sitting. . 463—487

EVENING.

Report of Committee on people of eolour in Canada ; and slavery
under the Hudson's Bay Company. Slave-trade in Brazil.
Slave-trade between the states of Ameriea. Resolution respect-
ing the Ameriean Colonization Society. Governor Camp-
bell's aeeount of Sierra Leone. Resolution to investigate the
present state of the British settlements on the west eoast of
Afriea. Mr. Murray's plan for protection of Afriea and
liberated Afrieaus, referred to a Committee. Resolution upon
the state of the Amistad eaptives. Papers presented to the
Convention. Close of Evening sitting . . . 488 — 511

TENTH DAY.— MORNING.

Page 511—671.
Thanks to Christian Ministers and Missionaries in the "West India
colonies. Address to the Freneh Nation. Employment of
British eapital in the Slave-trade. Slave-grown Sugar.
Address to Heads of Governments. Benefieial results of
Emancipation ; testimonies of Delegates from different eolonies
to these results. Announcement of the defeat of the measure
for transporting Hill Coolies to the Mauritius and other plaees.
Close of Morning sitting 512—540

EVENING.

Letters of Correspondents : from the Free will Baptists of the
United States, &e. Russian serfage. Address to the People
of Holland and Denmark. Spanish Slavery. Slavery in
Ceylon. Afrieau Slave-trade. On holding another Conven-
tion. Protest of Seven Delegates : read and laid on the tabic.
Resolution respecting the President. Thanks to the Viee-
Presidents. Thanks to the Committee of the British and
Foreign Anti- Slavery Soeiety. Custody of the Reeords.
Thanks to the Secretaries. Thanks to the Publication and
Press Committee. Concluding Resolution. Convention dis-
solved. Close of Last Day's sitting 540 — 571

PROCEEDINGS, &c.

Pursuant to previous announcement, the Convention opened its sit-
tings in Freemasons' Hall, Great Queen-street, London, on Friday,
June 12th, 1840. The members began to assemble before 10 o'clock,and
by 11 o'clock the spacious Hall was filled. The upper end and one side
of the room were appropriated to ladies, of whom a considerable number
were present, including several female abolitionists from the United States.

W. T. Blair, Esq.* (of Bath) rose, and said—

Our venerable friend, Thomas Clarkson, will shortly enter the room.
I am requested to suggest, in consideration of the infirm state of his health,
that there be no expression of popular approbation on his entrance. Perhaps
the most acceptable way in which he can be received, will be by the company
standing.

Thomas Clarkson, Esq., then entered the room, leaning on the arm
of W. D. Ckewdson, Esq., and Joseph Sturge, Esq., and accom-
panied by his daughter-in-law and grandson.

"WILLIAM ALLEN, Esq.— I have been requested by the Committee to
propose to this numerous and respectable assembly, that our friend, Thomas.
Clarkson, be Chairman of this Convention.

J. G. Birney, Esq. (of New York), seconded the motion, which
was put and agreed to.

At the suggestion of some of the members of the Convention, a few
minutes were spent in devotional silence.

JOSEPH STUBGE, Esq. (of Birmingham).-I hope I shall be excused for
making one or two remarks before the business of the meeting commences.
Those who have known our dear and honoured Chairman only through the
unimpaired intellectual vigour evinced in a work which has recently appeared

* The places represented by the respective delegates, may be found c
reference to an alphabetical list appended to this volume.

before the public, can little estimate how much he suffers from bodily
weakness, and what a sacrifice it has been to him to comply with the
unanimous wish of the Committee that he would preside on this occasion 01
how much cause we have for thankfulness that he is yet spared to be amongst
us, for however short a period, at the age of more than eighty year . On the
last occasion that our dear friend appeared ^P^* «££. .£l °?°
when the freedom of this city was presented to him at the Guildhall, he
was so overcome by thfe heat of the room, and the applause of the audience,
Tathe was unable to proceed with his address; but the kind and delicate
manner in which this assembly have now abstained from the usual expressions
of approbation, will, I trust, spare him any of those painful sensations on the
present occasion ;-he will feel that he is surrounded by his friends. The
Committee who have made preliminary arrangements, were particularly
^ofto' afford every warm friend of the cause an opportunity of being
Resent at this Convention ; nevertheless, to avoid giving offence, they have
found it necessary strictly o adhere to the rule laid down for granting tickets
oTadmSto4 it ors,b y utIam sure they ^^^"j^f^X
because they have, at the express request of the Chairman, made a tew
exceptions I allude to one of these, for the purpose of introducmg my young
frTend Xstands beside me, who is the only living representative of Thomas
C^kZZ and who bears his name. [Mr. Stukgs here took the youth by
the hand but was so much affected, as to be for some time unable to proceed.
The deer syTa hy of the meeting was audibly testified.] It was the
prfcSwisho'f the father of our cause whose labours exten over a period
of fifty-six years, that his grandson should be present ; and I hope I shall not
vn thS/degree wound the delicacy of his widowed parent by saying, in
her pti^lat it is the dearest wish of her heart, that her d^riing and
only child should consecrate his future life to thegrea cause J^ w f™ ^
a. ™»+ tn nrmnote It is an interesting fact, which I did not know till
y^rrtois 1 ^ birth-day [nhfe years,] of the youthful Thomas
Claumo*; and if I venture to give expression to the earnest prayer of my
heart, that the blessing of God may rest upon him and that, with the de-
fending mantle of his ancestor, he may catch a double portion at hi spn-it,I
am sure it will find a response in the bosom of very many m this assembly -
tfjries of « Arncn)." When many of us are removed to that bourn where the
wicked cease from troubling and the weary are at rest, and w .ere all distinc-
tions of clime and colour will be swept away for ever, may he see the day
when the Divine blessing shall have so < »n nontly cr o^d ^his gi^at a use
of justice and of mercy, that the sun shall cease to rise upon a tyrant 01

Se THOMAS a CLARKSON,Esq.-My dear friends, I stand before you as an
humble individual whose life has been most intimately connected with the
subiect which you are met this day to consider. I was formerly, under
Providence, the originator, and am now unhappily the only surviving member
of the Committee which was first instituted in this country m he year 1/87,
for the abolition of the slave-trade. My dear friend and *f™-™™<*. *£
Wilberforce, who was one of them, is, as you know, dead • and here I may
Tvnf him that there never was a man either dead or living, to whom your
Z^T^JnZLlttentoUrn. My dear friend and fellow-labourer,
- Wiuuh Smith, the late member for Norwich, who was another of them, is
dead also, by whose indefatigable exertions for nearly fifty years, both m and

out of Parliament, it was most vigorously supported. As to the rest of the
Committee, Samuel Hoare, William Dillwyn, George Harrison,
Richard Phillips, and the other dear friends, whose names I am sorry that
I cannot at this moment recollect, these also are all dead, and gone no doubt
to their eternal rest. My dear friends, I was invited many months ago to be
at this meeting, but old age and infirmities, being lame and nearly blind, and
besides being otherwise seriously affected at times, gave me no hope of
attending. At length, I have been permitted to come among you ; and I
rejoice in it, if I were only allowed to say in this place, in reference to your
future labours— fafe courage, be not dismayed, go on, persevere to the last; you will
always have pleasure from the thought of having done so. I myself can say
with truth, that though my body is fast going to decay, my heart beats as
warmly in this sacred cause, now in the 81st year of my age, as it did at the
age of 24, when I first took it up. And I can say further with truth, that if I
had another life given me to live, I would devote it to the same object. So
far for your encouragement to persevere. My dear friends, you have a most
difficult task to perform; it is ueither more nor less than the extirpation
of slavery from the whole world. Your opponents who appear the most for-
midable, are the cotton and other planters in the southern parts of the United
States ; who, I am grieved to say, hold more than two millions of their fellow-
creatures m the most cruel bondage. Now, we know of these men, that they
are living in the daily habits of iujustice, cruelty, and oppression, and may be
therefore said to have no true fear of God, nor any just sense of religion.
You cannot therefore expect to have the same hold upon the consciences of
these as you have upon the consciences of others. How then can you get at them
so as to influence their conduct ? There is one way ; you must endeavour to
make, them feel their guilt in its consequences. You must endeavour by all
justifiable means to affect their temporal interests. You must endeavour,
among other things, to have the produce of free tropical labour brought iuto
the markets of Europe, and under-sell them there ; and if you can do this,
your victory is sure. I have only now to say, may the Supreme Ruler of all
human events,_ at whose disposal are not only the hearts but the intellects of
men, may He in his abundant mercy, guide your councils, and give his blessing
upon your labours.

W. D. CREWDSON, Esq. (of Kendal) .-It is of very great importance to the
comfort of our venerable President, that the solemn feeling which has been
over the meeting should be continued whilst we are favoured with his presence.
I trust that by- the exercise of this feeling he may be permitted to remain with
us longer than he now anticipates. I should be sorry if he stayed to weary or
oppress himself; but for a few minutes it may be interesting to him to see
what is the course which this meeting intends to pursue in the prosecution of
its important labours. In the first place, I have to introduce to the meeting a
communication from Lord Brougham, on whom two gentlemen with myself
waited yesterday, to inform him as an old, a very active, and a powerful friend
of the cause in which we are uow engaged, of what was going forward ; and
to request him, if it were possible, even for a few minutes only, to give his
attendance at this meeting. I am sorry to say, that the state of his health is
such, that he thinks it uecessary to decline ; but he sent a letter last night,
addressed to me, which I will request our friend, the Rev. T, Scales, to read
to the meeting.

b2

The Rev. T. Scales, (of Leeds), then read the following letter :—
" House of Lords, Thursday.

" Gentlemen,— I am much honoured by the request which you have
made to me through your deputation this morning, that I would attend the
meeting of delegates to-morrow ; and I assure you that it is very painful
for me to be under the necessity of refusiug. But the state of my health
has been such for some time past, that I am barely able to discharge those
duties in this place from which I cannot withdraw, and I have becu
compelled to lay down a rule against going to any public meeting what-
ever. Of all the instances in which I have been obliged to follow this
rule, there is no one which has given me greater pain j for I need hardly
say how deeply I feci interested in whatever concerns the great cause
which brings you together. I earnestly hope that all your proceedings
may be guided by the same wisdom, aud animated by the same zeal,
which have from the earliest period of the controversy, been displayed
by the friends of humanity and justice ; and I trust that, under the
blessing of Providence continued to their exertions, our earnest desires
may finally be crowned with suceess. I have the honour to be, gentle-
men, your faithful and humble servant, " Brougham."
" To the Committee of Management of Delegates:'
Mr. Crewdson resumed.

The next subject which I have to bring before the -meeting, is the appoint-
ment of Vice-Chairmen, in order to relieve our President. It was thought
necessary at this early stage of the business to be provided with those who
should efficiently occupy the Chair, and considering the extent of labour
which is likely to rest upon tliem, the Committee have thought it expedient to
propose four gentlemen, whose names I shall now submit to this meeting for
their consideration, and I trust, their adoption. I beg leave, therefore, to

That "William Thomas Blair, Esq., of Bath, Joseph Sttjrge,
Esq., of Birmingham, James Gillespie Birney, Esq., of New York,
and Robert Kaye Greville, Esq., LL.D., of Edinburgh, be requested
to become Viee-Chairmen of this Convention.

George Bradburn, Esq., (of the Massachusetts legislature, U. S.)
seconded the motion, which was agreed to.

Rev HENRY GREW, (of Philadelphia, U. S.)— It is with emotions
which no language can describe, that I proceed to the discharge of a
duty very interesting to myself, and I trust to all who are present. I have
to present to our venerated and respected Chairman, a memorial of the high
regard which the friends of liberty in the western world entertain for his
benevolent services in a cause dear to humanity. It consists of a book,

■

wmtaiuing a history of the Pennsylvania Hall. That Hall was erected by the
friends of liberty, for the advocacy of the general principles of free discus-
sion on all subjects, but especially on the great topic of human rights. On
the 14th of May, 1838, it was opened and consecrated to virtue, liberty, and
independence. We hoped that it would have stood until the jubilee of
universal emancipation should have cheered a regenerated world. But in
the inscrutable counsels of infinite wisdom, it was otherwise ordained. On
the evening of the 17th of the same month^it was destroyed by a mob, insti-
gated and infuriated by that demon spirit' of slavery which has cursed the
world. I am charged by my friend, Samuel Webb, of Philadelphia, one of the
managers of Pennsylvania Hall, to present this volume. Considering the state
of health of our dearly beloved friend, the Chairman, and the value of your
time, I shall not now enter into a detail of the circumstances of this catastrophe
I will only express a hope, in which I shall be joined by millions of kindred
spirits in the old world and in the new, that his declining days may be crowned
and blessed, aud consummated by "the peace of God, which passeth all
understanding," and that he may then have an abundant entrance minis-
tered unto him into that temple into which the powers of darkness shall
never be able to enter, but where the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb
shall be the glory.

The Rev. W. KNIBB, (from Jamaica).— I will claim your indulgence for
only one moment. I beg to present on behalf of 300,000 emancipated slaves
in the island of Jamaica, the only tribute which they have to give, but which
I am sure is the best tribute they could give, to my venerated father, Thomas
Clarkson, Esq., namely, the propriety of their conduct since they have been
made men. I did not expect that I should have been permitted to address
this assembly, and thus publicly to return thanks to one whom I shall ever
respect and admire. I have an engraving of a view of one of our chapels
in Jamaica, in which the .first Anti-Slavery meeting was held in that
beloved island. If I had been aware of this opportunity, I would have
presented it publicly to our Chairman, but I shall now forward it privately
on behalf of those whom I formerly knew as slaves, but whom I now know
a, rising in intelligence, and exhibiting to the world that propriety
>r the emancipated sons and daughters of Africa,

J. H. Tbedgold, Esq., Hon. Secretary to the Committee of the
British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Soeiety, then read the summons of the
Convention.

BRITISH AND FOREIGN ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY,
Offices, 27, JVew Broad-street, London.

More than half a eentury has elapsed since the horrors, the eruelty,
and crime of the Afriean slave trade awakened the sympathies of
Britons. Aroused to exertion they determined on its extinetion. They
had to eontend with fierce opposition from almost every quarter, espe-
cially from those interested in supporting this iniquitous traffie ; their
diseouragements were all but overwhelming: yet, knowing their eause
to be the eause of humanity and religion, they did not faint, they

laboured diligently and devotedly ; every obstacle at length gave way ;
and in the year 1807, a Law was enacted by the British Legislature for
its extinction.

In the year 1823, the condition of the slaves in the British Colonies
was brought before Parliament ; strenuous efforts were made in every
shape to resist Emancipation ; a Society was then formed for the Abo-
lition of Slavery; information was circulated through tbe country;
Auxiliary Societies were established ; public feeling was universally
excited ; petitions were poured into both Houses of Parliament, and
laid before the Throne, from cities, towns, and villages. In 1833, an
Act was passed by tbe Legislature for the Abolition of Slavery in the
British Colonies ; but, although a generous and confiding nation was
betrayed into a grant of Twenty Millions sterling to tbe slave-owners,
the slave was not yet made a freeman ; consigned to an apprenticeship
of six years, subject to the domination of the same master, he still
groaned under the oppression and cruelty inseparable from the state in
which he was placed ; personal inspection confirmed tbe worst appre-
hensions of the abolitionists, and proved that the apprenticeship was
only slavery under another name. Again, the sympathies of the
British nation were aroused, and, under the blessing of the Most
High, the efforts of tbe friends of justice and humanity were finally
crowned with success. The slaves were released from their oppressive
servitude, and freedom was conferred on every descendant of Africa in
the British Colonies.

The labourers in this cause, notwithstanding their joy and thanks-
giving for the events they had been permitted to witness, could not look
upon the accomplishment of these great objects as the signal for repose ;
they could not but feel that, from a variety of circumstances attendant
upon his new condition in life, tbe recently emancipated slave bad a
powerful claim upon the protection and assistance of those who had
laboured for his deliverance from bondage ; tbey had rejoiced in the
1 liberation of 800,000 of their fellow-subjects, but they could not forget
that in tbe nations of the American Continent and its adjacent islands,
upwards of Five. Millions of the descendants of Africa were still
groaning under the oppression, and subject to the cruelty of slavery.
It has been ascertained from conclusive evidence, that, to supply the
slave-markets in these countries, and the fearful waste of human life
consequent on this atrocious system, upwards of one thousand of the
inhabitants of Africa are daily sacrificed to the slave-trade, either as

victims to the wars fomented in their native land, lost during the in-
describable sufferings of the middle passage, or, at length, consigned to
the oppressions of slavery on the shores of the western world. In
addition to this, it may be observed, that in the United States of
America, an internal slave-trade is carried on to a prodigious and in-
creasing extent, and with features of the most disgusting depravity and
revolting cruelty.

Thus the slave trade, justly designated by the Allied Sovereigns, at
the Congress of Veroua, on the 8th of February, 1815, as " a scourge
whieh has too long desolated Africa, degraded Europe, and afflicted
humanity," though piracy by British law, and contraband to other ■
civilized nations, baffles all measures which have been devised for its
suppression, and is still earried on to an unprecedented extent, and with
aggravated horrors. These considerations induced the friends of justice
and humanity again to assemble. Deputies met from various parts of
Great Britain, and a Society was formed in London, in the spring of
the present year, (1839) under the name of the "British and Foreign
Anti-Slavery Soeiety."

The fundamental principles of this Association are embodied in the
following resolution : —

" That so long as slavery exists there is no reasonable prospect of
the annihilation of the slave-trade, and of extinguishing the
sale and barter of human beings ; that the extinction of slavery
and the slave-trade will be attained most effectually by theemploy-
ment of those means which are of a moral, religious, and pacific I
character ; and that no measures be resorted to by this Society
in the prosecution of these objects, but such as are in entire
accordanee with these principles."

From the foregoing Resolution it will be seen, that the British and
Foreign Anti-Slavery Society is impressed with the conviction that there
is no reasonable prospect of exterminating the slave-trade but by the
annihilation of slavery itself; and that, in pursuing its objeet, it is
entirely restricted from being aceessary to the employment of an armed
force, or of any means but those of a moral, religious, and pacific
character. Degraded and forlorn as is the condition of the slave, the
members of the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society eannot but
feci persuaded, that there is no country in which there will not be

found those, who commiserate his condition, and who would desire td
prove themselves the friends and protectors of the oppressed. To these,
in every land, the Society offers the right hand of fellowship, and
earnestly solicits their co-operation. Justice and mercy are most
strongly inculcated by the precepts of our blessed Lord, " All things
whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to
them." " Be ye therefore merciful as )' p our Father also is merciful." These
precepts may well embolden the friends of the slave to come forward
and plead the cause of their oppressed, helpless, and afflicted brethren.

The British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, in thus announcing
itself to the friends of the slave of every nation, strongly urges it upon
them, wherever it may be practicable, to associate themselves, and
unitedly, as well as individually, to labour for the extinction of slavery ;
a system which, whether regarded in a political, moral, or religious
point of view, is alike inimical to the prosperity of Nations, cor-
rupting and demoralizing to every community in which it exists, and
utterly at variance with the spirit and precepts of Christianity. For the
purpose of promoting this great and truly Christian object, the Society
has concluded to hold a General Conference in London, to commence
on the 12th of June, 1840 ; in order to deliberate on the best means of
promoting the interests of the slave ; of obtaining his immediate and
unconditional freedom; and by every pacific measure, to hasten the
utter extinction of the slave trade. To this Conference they earnestly
invite the friends of every nation and of every clime.
On behalf of the Committee,

John H. Thedgold, Secretary.

GEORGE STACEY, Esq.— I have been unexpectedly called upon to move
a resolution, which I will proceed to submit to the Convention. It is as
follows : —

That the following gentlemen be invited to act as Secretaries during
this Convention, JohnScoble, of London, Henby Brewster Stanton,
of New York, Thomas Scales, of Leeds, William Bevan, of Liver-
pool, Wendell Phillips, of Boston, Massachusetts, and William
Morgan, of Birmingham.

The Rev. JOHN BURNET seconded the resolution.— It is of great impor-
tance (he observed) that we should have efficient, devoted, and persevering
Secretaries. No Society can go on well without such Secretaries, and the
individuals that are now proposed have proved their perfect competency to
carry on the work which is to be committed to their hands. I have been very

much pleased with the way in which this meeting has opened, its proceedings
augur well for the future circumstances connected with the movements of this
Society. I have been pleased with the readiness with which the meeting has
taken the hint thrown put to it respecting your own feelings, Sir, and your
own age. I have been pleased to find that in the midst of all the ardour and
devotedness which they feel in common with myself in the anti-slavery cause,
they are yet able so to control that ardour, and that devotedness, as to prove .
that they can act with the cool deliberation of men ; while they can, at the
same time, when need requires, display all the emotion of individuals whose
every feeling is enlisted in this great cause. I trust that the same self-control
will pervade all the proceedings of this Convention to its close. I trust that
there will be found no individual who will not be ready to feel that he is
embarked in a great cause, in the presence of which every personality must
sink, and every passion must die, except the passion of a well directed, a
burning, but a wisely controlled zeal for the great object we have in view. I
do hope, Sir, that we shall have reason at the close of this Convention, to con-
gratulate ourselves, and to congratulate you, that at the evening of your life,
you have come, surrounded by the recollections of many long years, to give the
sanction of your presence and your opinions to such a great aud interesting
object. I trust that the meeting at large will take a lesson from the appear-
ance you have made here to-day, associating with your weakness of body all
that energy of mind which has long distinguished your career, .and which I
trust, will long distinguish those, to whom you have commended a similar

The resolution was put and carried unanimously.

The Rev. THOMAS SCALES.— I feel that the office to which, in common
with several other gentlemen, you have been pleased to call me, is one of con-
siderable labour, but of still greater responsibility, and I feel exceedingly
anxious that we may be assisted with all that is requisite to enable us rightly
and faithfully to discharge its duties. One of our number, Mr. Scoble, to
whom the cause owes so much, is prevented by severe, personal, and domestic
indisposition from being with us this morning, but I hope that in a day or two,
he will unite with us in our important engagements. I wish also to intimate
that of the Secretaries who have now been appointed by you, two of our
friends are from America. Mr. Stanton is well known as one of the valuable
Secretaries of that important Society which has been established in the
United States for the abolition of slavery, aud which, under the blessing of
heaven, has laboured with so much ardour and effect ; and Mr. Phillips is
well-known as a devoted advocate of this sacred cause, who has consecrated
the energies of his heart and mind to the object for which we are associated.
I hope that by your forbearance and sympathy, and by assistance from on
high, we shall discharge the duty committed to us in such a way, as to subserve
the great end for which we are come together in this Convocation.
James Mott, Esq. (of Philadelphia, U. S.) moved,
That the following gentlemen be appointed a press Committee to
superintend the publication of the reports of the Convention : John
Beaumont, J. H. Trkdgold, Joseph Cooper, and Henry Tuckett,
Esquires.

10

The Rev. JOHN ANGELL JAMES, (of Birmingham).— This is a motion
of mere formal business, which precludes me, even if I were disposed and
able, from addressing the meeting at any length. I caunot, however, avoid
expressing that I really feel it an ineffable honour to second a resolution on
such a subject as this, which has been moved by one of the delegates from
America, and which places me in juxta-position with the friends on that side
the Atlantic in this great and noble cause. I also feel it an honour to second
a resolution which is to be put to this meeting, Sir, by yourself. I would
simply express my prayer, that this Convention, which I rejoice you have lived
long enough to witness, may be the evening star of your life, and the morning
star of that dear youth, who, I trust, will stand before the public as your
representative in this cause, long after you have gone to your eternal rest.

The resolution was then put and carried unanimously.

GEORGE THOMPSON, Esq. (of Edinburgh).— However my heart may
throb to give expression to those sentiments, which the grand objects of this
meeting and the presence of the champions of human rights from all sections
of the globe, and those irresistibly touching scenes upon which our eyes have
gazed to-day, for the first and for the last time, are calculated naturally to
inspire in my bosom, and in yours ; this is not the stage of the proceedings of
this Convention at which it would be good taste to occupy much time in the
submission of any resolution, because the resolutions are at present quite pre-
liminary, and have reference to that business which will afford us the oppor-
tunity, by and by, of largely expressing our views upon all those topics that
are connected with the interests of that cause in which we are embarked.
But for the information of the venerable Chairman, I would say, he has before
him on this occasion, not only the tried and trusty friends of human liberty
in this kingdom ; but he has before him, on either side of him, and in the
distance, those who have not only laboured, but suffered and sacrificed, more
than language can express, in this same cause, in the western hemisphere of
our world. Ere he retires, I am anxious that he should feel that his advice,
his counsel, and his energy are appreciated most deeply by those who have
been permitted this day to behold him for the first time. I am sure
that our friends from the other side of the Atlantic will depart inspired
and encouraged by the words of comfort which have been addressed to them
from the Chair. I trust, Sir, that the example which you have set us, of dedi-
cating our children and our grand-children to the cause of freedom, will be
followed by all who have wept tears of emotion over the scene wc have
witnessed this day. I heartily unite in the expressions which have already
fallen from the lips of preceding speakers, hoping that our future delibera-
tions, while they are characterised by the highest principle, and by the
greatest fervour, may at the same time be characterised by good taste and
Christian forbearance, and that wisdom which is profitable to direct.

Mr. Thompson concluded by submitting a series of regulations for
conducting the business of the Convention, which, having been seconded
by the Rev. Nathaniel Colver, of Boston, Massachusetts, were, after
some discussion, amended and unanimously adopted in the following
form : —

11

1 . — That this Convention do sit twice in each day, commencing at
ten o'clock in the morning, and at four o'clock in the afternoon ; and
that the Vice- Chairmen be requested to preside alternately in the
absence of the President.

2. — That all original papers, propositions, and resolutions be sub-
mitted in writing to the Secretaries, the day before it is proposed to
introduce them ; and that all amendments and propositions arising out
of business under discussion, be submitted to the Chairman in writing
at the time.

3. — That the Secretaries be instructed to report at the close of each
day to the Chairman the subjects upon which it is proposed that in-
formation shall the next day be communicated to the Convention, and
that such subjects shall be regularly disposed of before any other matter
be introduced.

4. — That as occasions may arise, Committees shall be appointed to
draft addresses, prepare resolutions, &c. &c, to be passed through the
hands of the Secretaries to the Chairman.

5. — That no member of Convention shall he allowed to speak twice
on the same subject, except in explanation ; or the opener, by way of
conclusion, in reply.

6. — That all documents shall be signed by the Chairman.

7- — That all letters and documents addressed to this Convention, or
to the Chairman, be referred to the Secretaries.

8. — That no new business be introduced in the morning sitting, after
two o'clock, P.M.

DANIEL O'CONNELL, Esq. M.P, on the request of the Chairman, next
addressed the meeting. I feel, (said the honourable and learned gentleman),
that it would be impossible to resist such a request. It is to me a sacred
command. I should not detain this highly respectable meeting mauy seconds,
if one idea were not impressed on my mind. It is this,— much has been done
by Great Britain in the cause of our coloured brethren ; their emancipation
was a great and majestic act, and it has been followed by consequences which,
if you looked at them alone, have been of the utmost value to humanity.
Under the British flag, with the exception of the East ladies, slavery no longer
exists ; and those who were compelled heretofore to labour for the advantage
of others, now labour for their own, their wives, their children, and their fami-
/ lies. It would be quite impossible to exaggerate what has been done. You
' have struck off the fetters from 800,000 human beings ; from the rank of slaves
yon have made them free ; but then you have not done all ; there remains
much yet to be effected. Even your benevolence and hnmanity have left a
larger blot than before upon the escutcheon of human nature. You have left
behind yon the Slave-Trade, and emancipation has multiplied its victims. You
have come together for the very purpose of doing away with the injury inflicted

12

on Africa, riot by your efforts, but by the avarice of others. Yotl are not
responsible for it— they are. But the fact I rose to impress upon you is this—

Lthat this Convention is more important tlian any which has yet assembled on
the face of the globe. Men have come more than 5000 miles in order to attend
it. They have come here not from selfish motives, not to advance their own
interests, not to acquire pride and glory from participating in your objects ;
but from higher and more ennobling motives — from a desire to serve the cause
of humanity. You have represeutatives from the neighbouring kingdoms of
Europe — you have them from every portion of the British isles— and no por-
tion of the British isles ought to be exempted from our meetiug. You have
at this Convention the patriarch of the cause of liberty, and I am delighted
that that venerable gentleman has lived to see a consummation which, when
he commenced his labours, the fervid imagination of his youth could not have
conceived. He has heen the prime moving cause of that majestic operation of
British justice. It is delightful that he has lived to witness the purest of all
fame. This is a powerful assembly ; hut in proportion to its importance, so is
the awfulness of the duty imposed upon it. Are you met to teach morals, to
display talent, and to show a good disposition ? Yes, you may meet for all
these purposes, hut they are totally insufficient for your work, and without
some great movement in favour of humanity, it would have been hetter that
you had never met : for, instead of doing good, you will create a re-action
favourable to the foes of the human race, and will assist, in fact, those nations
that, from political considerations, have pledged themselves to the British
crown to assist in putting an end to human slavery, and are yet practising all
manner of deceit, redoubling the horrors of the middle passage, and committing
thousands of murders more than were perpetrated in the worst period of our
slave-trade. The only reason why I rose to obey the call was, the opportunity
it furnished of raising my humble voice in earnest solicitations, that this meet-
ing should not break up until it has made a movement forward — until it has
made those arrangements which in your wisdom you may think most fit, in
order to establish co-operating societies in every country of the world. I am
proud to see gentlemen present from Massachusetts, hecause the Massachusetts
legislature having perceived that in point of law the first paragraph of their
declaration of independence— the charter of American freedom — is inconsistent
with slavery, — upon the construction of that clause alone they have determined
that no slavery shall exist in that state. I come hack to my only point, that it
is the duty of every one of us to work out our principles, to take care that
something permanent results from our operations, and that they shall not prove
transitory. It does not become me to suggest what they should he, but I am
ready, as a man of business, to adopt measures which shall produce an
effect in every portion of the civilized world. You should throw a glance
beyond the ocean; you should commence a correspondence with the place
where the worst slavery exists — with the East Iudies. It is not only the
actual bondsman who is a slave there, but every occupier is under the basest
of tyranny] and the East India Company have unlimited power to tax him
to the utmost amount which they can possibly grind ont of him. Nothing
can be more glorious to America than the numher of Anti-Slavery Societies
already established in that country, and we should make a perfect brother-
hood of affectiou with them. I have been hlamed for phrases untruly
attributed to me, as if I had charged all Americans with that which I
applied ouly to slave-owners. I can never speak but with indignation of
monsters who claim liberty to themselves, .and yet inflict on the backs of

13

their slaves the vilest marks of their tyranny. I hail with delight the
approach of meetings at which there will he associated with us the honest
citizeus of America, who come here at so much expense, so much peril, so
much sacrifice of time, and in spite of the prejudices of those of their coun-
trymen who will raise the knife where they fail in argument. I am ohliged to
the meeting for giving me an opportunity of throwing out my sentiments. I
hope that every gentleman will join with me in the conviction, that we are *
under an imperative duty to operate forwards, or we shall drive the cause of
humanity hackwards. "Would it not he a lamentahle thing for such a Con-
vention to meet without forwarding the cause which they have come together
to promote ? If we are to work well, we must make sacrifices of individual
opinion to public sentiment. Honest men are often those who are the most
stubborn ; for having no improper motives in their own minds, but being
actuated by pure conviction, they are frequently unwilling to yield. There are
some places, which shall be nameless, where a man is never angry with another
for differing from him in public. Though they often agree in private, they
take adverse views when they come before the world. I rejoice to have had
an opportunity of seeing you in the chair, and of seeing the representative of
your family — of the glorious name you will leave to posterity. I rejoice that
we cannot be accused of a wrong motive. I defy the entire press of England
— admitting its ingenuity, but paying it no other compliment — to impugn our
motives. The efforts of the Convention are beyond reproach. You have
nothing to fear. I trust that God who has told us that charity is the greatest
of all, will smile propitiously on our efforts, and that the Convention will do
some mighty work, which shall make efficient progress in raising men all over
the globe from a state of degradation to a state of freedom, as the only real
preparative for the reception of the truths of Christianity, and the blessings of
civilization.

J. C. FULLER, Esq. (from the State of New York, U.S.)— There are no
men in the room whom I am more happy to see than the Chairman and
Daniel O'Connell. "We have been told that there must be an influence go
out of this meeting that shall tell upon the nations of the earth. I was glad
to hear it. Dahiel O'Conneix has talked to us— I now want to talk to him.
There is a charm about his name all over the universe. I believe he could
do more to put down slavery in America than the Convention can effect.
Some of our Irish brethren there, are the principal supporters of slavery, and
if he would issue an address to them we should soon have powerful coad-
jutors. I hope he will do something of that kind. There is a charm in his
name whicli slavery cannot tarnish.

Mr. O'CONNELL.— I only beg you to be assured of this ; I want no addi-
tional stimulant to induce me to carry into effect that which I have long had in
contemplation. Before the Convention breaks up, I will show to that gentle-
man, if he will permit me, and to other American delegates, that address, in
order that I may know whether they deem it suitable to the country or not.

Mr. BRADBURN. — I rise not without considerable embarrassment. But
I feel that lean do no less than advert to the allusion which has been made by
the distinguished individual who has just sat down, to my own native State.
He has referred to the constitution of Massachusetts, and has truly told you,
that its adoption struck a death-blow to slavery within the limits of that
commouwealth. But it was not, I am sorry to say, until very lately, that
Massachusetts could be induced to do, what consistency with that constitution

the slave-trade
and also to
having the
country, and

14

demanded, in relation to slavery in the uational district of Columbia. Slavery
iu that district exists only by the will of the national government. Of that
government, Massachusetts, in virtue of belonging to the Union, is an integral
part, and therefore divided with her sister-states the responsibility of con-
tinuing slavery, with all its concomitant horrors, in the district of Columbia.
But it gives me great pleasure to say, that in this matter also Massachusetts
has now done her duty. Through the voice of her legislature, at its last
session, she pronounced slavery to be a heinous wrong— a violation, at once,
of all human justice, of the eternal laws of God, and of the great principles
which coustitute the basis of our republican constitution and government ;
and declared it to be the duty of Congress immediately to abolish slavery and
i-the district of Columbia, and in the territory of Florida,
end to the slave-trade between the several States — Congress
"exclusive jurisdiction" over the "territories" of the
« commerce among the several States," that it has over the
district of Columbia. At the previous session of her legislature, she had
lifted up her voice of indignant remonstrance agaiust certain laws in the
slave-states, which infringe the rights aud the personal liberty eveu of her
own free citizens ; and adopted measures for the protection of those citizeus
against the operation of those atrocious enactmeuts. The coustitution of
Massachusetts makes no distinction among her citizens on accouut of their
complexion, ueither docs that of the United States. Yet, in consequence of
the laws, uow alluded to, in the slave-states, many of our own citizens,
chancing to go into those States for purposes of business, or being driven
thither by circumstances of adversity over which they have no coutrohare
seized by certain human hyeuas, pronounced to be slaves, and thrown into
dungeons; and if they cannot prone themselves to be the owners of their owu
souls aud bodies, or iu other words, to be freemen, and by the testimony of
white men, or proving themselves to be such, have not money enough to pay
the expenses which have> been saddled upon them by those same human
hyenas, they are sold into perpetual slavery. There is in the slave-states
another class of laws, enacted with special reference to free coloured mariners,
scarcely less injurious to citizens of our free-states. Under this class of laws,
free coloured persons on board vessels visiting the ports of slave-states are
taken from the vessels and thrust into prison, incarcerated^till the vessels leave
port, when, if called for, they are permitted to go on board ; but if they are
not called for, which sometimes happeus, these also are doomed to all the
horrors of the vilest system that ever saw the sun ! Of the kidnappings
perpetrated under these two classes of laws, there is scarcely any end in
our country. Thousands of them occur annually. Massachusetts has now
pronounced them an outrage upon the constitution of the land, and will, it is
to be hoped, soon take measures to effect a legal decision of the question of
their constitutionality by the Supreme Court of the nation, and thus— for no
one can doubt what that decision would be— impose on the geueral govern-
ment the duty of seeing that none of them be any longer enforced. I congra-
tulate Englishmen, though I must ueeds do so with a feeliug of deep humilia-
tion, that these atrocious laws are not, so far as I have beeu able to loam,
attempted to be enforced agaiust the subjects of Queen Victoria. A friend
of mine, some years ago, had occasion to visit Charleston, South Carolina. On
board the ship, in which he took passage, was a coloured man. On her
officer, as usual, came ou board in search of coloured

I

15

men. But the captain, understanding the officer's object, and feeling a peculiar
regard for this coloured mariner, very adroitly put him into a boat, and
seut him on board a British vessel, theu lying in the harbour. And there, under
the red cross of your own English monarchy, he found that protection which
the aegis of our American eagle was not broad enough to throw around him.
If every other free-state in America would but do as Massachusetts has done,
slavery would soon cease to disgrace our national capital ; for the free-states
do in reality, hold the power of the nation. They have but to exercise that
power, and slavery in America, so far at least as it is a national affair, would
be at an end. I canuot sit down without regretting my incapacity to express
the gratitude I feel on this occasion, in seeing before me such an audience,
and especially that I am permitted to behold the venerated Chairman of this
noble body, whose long, and energetic, and well-directed labours, in behalf of
the suffering bondmen, have won for him so exalted a place among the
benefactors of mankind. And I feel scarcely less grateful that I am permitted
to behold, also, that other veteran in the great cause of emancipation, who
sits at the Chaib man's right hand, and who, by his unrivalled eloquence in
advocating the great rights of human nature, has excited the admiration and
love of the friends of those rights in every quarter of the civilized globe.
They are the two personages whom I have often said I would go further to
see, thau any other two beings on the surface of the earth. And both are now
before me, and I am 'permitted to look on them with my own eyes. Surely,
if it be not the happiest occasion of my existence, it at least furnishes a rich
compensation for all the pains I have taken to come hither. I will not, in
imitation of my good friend opposite, introduce any exhortations, nor ask for
any pledges. We need no pledges from this gentleman, (Mr. O'Connell), to
assure us of his unintermitting perseverance in the work of emancipating
the oppressed. I know that'his creed is founded on no considerations of
colour, of clime, or of sects. The world is his country ; all mankind are his
countrymen. I know as certaiuly as though it were proclaimed from the blue
vault above by an angel's voice, that he will persevere unto the end, in this
great and glorious cause. The distinguished gentleman has alluded to his
former rebukes of a certain portion of the American people. I am glad he
has not weakened their force by offering an apology for them. They need no
apology. They were richly merited. And I can assure him, that the reading
of them, as they have been sent forth from time to time, has done my heart
good ; for I kuew them to be Christian rebukes, the natural manifestations of
a righteous iudignatiou against hypocrisy and oppression. Many a slave-
holder has trembled in his shoes, as his eye has run over the reports of those
thrilling speeches, in which the eloquent gentleman has referred so frequently
to the inconsistent republicans of North America.

The Rev. T. Scales then read the following exposition of the
objects of the Convention, prepared at the request of the Committee of
the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society : —

It is of the utmost importance, in the very outset of our proceedings
as a Convention, that we should virtually understand each other, and
he agreed upon the ground we occupy, and the object which, in our
united capacity, we propose to act together to accomplish.

16
This is necessary, that our proceedings may be uniform and con-
sistent, and that no topics of a foreign and irrelevant character may he
introduced to divide our attention, or to divert us from the one great end
we all have in common.

That evils in abundance, and in a vast and frightful variety, exist
throughout our world, we must all feelingly deplore, and the sooner
remedies for these evils are devised and applied, so that they may be
meliorated and effectually cured, we shall readily acknowledge to be
most desirable. But our attention is now called to one monstrous evil,
of a character sufficiently marked and distinctive to bear a special
designation j and for the eradication and destruction of this evil, we, in
our office as delegates, and members of this Convention, are summoned
and have come hither, at the special invitation of the Committee of the
British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society— that we may confirm one
another in our hatred of that great wrong— in our purpose and reso-
lution to oppose it ; and that by our calm, solemn, and enlightened
deliberations we may devise such methods of future co-operation, as
may, by the guidance and blessing of the Most High God, the fountain
of all wisdom and goodness, and the common Father of our whole race,
the more speedily conduct to its utter final overthrow in every part of
our habitable world. That evil is slavery— direct, unequivocal, abso-
lute slavery— not other evils of a kindred character, or which in the
opinion of some may be of equal, or even greater magnitude, or which
may be classed by some philosophical philanthropists under the same
head, and called by the same name; but, if we may so speak, slavery
proper, in its own distinct and essential attributes.

It has been truly observed by an eloquent writer, "that a great
variety of human conditions, relations, and tenures, and some of them
not only innocent in themselves, but indispensable to the social state
are often confounded with slavery." This confusion of things which
differ, has been the occasion of much mischief, has tended to weaken
the convictions entertained by many, of the enormity of slavery, to
confirm its upholders in their adherence to the system, and has sup-
plied them with a plea in its justification, and an additional pretext for
its continuance.

Political disabilities have been denounced as slavery, and every re-
striction which either civil or ecclesiastical legislation in any country
has imposed upon the enjoyment of perfect liberty of conscience and

17

of worship, has been represented as only another of its forms • but in
whatever light we may regard them, and by whatever terms of reprehen-
sion we may feel ourselves moved, or deem ourselves warranted to
condemn such pernicious infringements of human rights, it is only by
a figure of speech, that they are designated slavery : since they may
exist, in their worst forms, and exert their fatal influence, in countries
and communities, where slavery, properly so called, is entirely unknown
The same may be predicated of many other forms of law, of injustice
and oppression, which are utterly inconsistent with the law of God
and the happiness of man, but which, though they may sometimes
be called slavery must be distinguished from it, since they want its
essential attributes and features. Slavery, then, is a condition in /,
winch man presumes to claim property in his fellow-man ;-wrests L
from another the right he has to himself, and assumes to be his master ft
and owner; which reduces man-moral, responsible, immortal man t,
who was made in the image of God-to the state of a mindless and *
irresponsible brute, whom his proprietor is at liberty to use according
to his own pleasure, to buy or sell, and work as any other portion of
his cattle or chattels. So that it is not merely a fact, but it is the
very letter of the law in many slave countries, that « the slave is one , ,
who is bought or sold, and held as property." « That slaves " mean-
ing human beings, the sons of God, of the very same flesh aud blood
wi h these legislators, "shall be deemed, taken, reputed, and adjudged
to be chattels personal in the hands of their masters, and possessions
to all intents and purposes whatsoever," and in some also as "real
estate.

That this is a cruel usurpation, an outrage on humanity, an insult
to the God who made us and «fc has made of one Mood all , '
nanons f men vko dwell on all the face of the earth, is a proposition
which merely to state is to prove, and which no process of reasoning
an make more evident and convincing, than its mere announcement*
to parties who are not warped by the influence of the evil itself, or

ZI' T S ^ ^ enriChed hy itS S' ainS - Xt is »* onty to
everse such unrighteous decrees, but also, and even more, to rescue
the unhappy Vlctlms of ^ j n ^ ^ >

we thus confederate. This is our high enterprise. We come not he

herS : V T^ **" ° f ^^ *° ^ce or adjul
the real or supposed inequalities of rank or order, of precedence or

lit

subordination, as they exist in different countries and communities and
have been introduced and established by the course of events, and by
the usages and customs or prejudices of mankind. All these we leave
untouched-they form no part of our business here; as the Delegates
of this Convention, we are not, I presume, called to discuss and settle
the wrongs and grievances of the free; but, freemen ourselves, and
jealous of our rights, we meet in behalf of the despised and degraded
victims of thraldom, that we may raise them from the dust, and lift
them to the rank of manhood, that we may break their galling fetters
and bring them into the glorious liberty which is their birth-right; and
thus roll away from religion and from the respective eountnesto which
we belong, and whieh we come hither to represent, the stain and re-
proach by which they have been so long dishonoured.

Early in the last year, the project of formmg a Society for the abo-
lition of slavery and the slave-trade occupied the attention of some of
those friends of the negro race, whose exertions, under the blessing of
God, had so materially contributed to achieve the great work of emanci-
pation in our own colonies. In the month of March, an mutation was
sent to all the delegates who had assembled in London in the years
1833 1837, and 1838, to meet at Exeter Hall, on Wednesday,
April 17th, for the purpose of considering the propriety of the feta-
tion of a Society for promoting the Abolition of Slavery and the Slave-
Trade throughout the world, by moral, religious, and other influences
no sanction being given to the employment of an armed force. Great
care was taken to make this invitation as extensive as possible, so that
it might embrace the great constituency who had been so active in he
previous struggle. On the day appointed, a considerable body of gentle-
men assembled in Exeter Hall, almost the whole of them having come
up from the country, prepared to express not only their own feelings but
those of the friends of the cause generally with whom hey had held
consultation. The meeting was attended by the Eight Hon. Dr.
I„« T o N , Sib G E o*a E Sxhick.a.b, Sm ****** Wilkot, and
Mr. Tukneb, members of Parliament, and was especially indebted to
the first of these gentlemen for the sedulous attention which he paid to
the business of the day, and the facilities he afforded for the settlement
of some difficulties which arose.
. The general grounds and objects of the movemen were set forth by
Mr. StLe, to whom it is not out of place or at all invidious in me here

19

to state, which I do most fervently and cordially, and from my own
knowledge, that our great cause, and the cause of humanity itself, owes
a large debt, and whom both hemispheres may delight to hail and to
honour.

The Society was then constituted, and the following resolutions as its
basis, and for its future government, were adopted on the succeeding
day: —

" I. That the name of this Society be, < The British and Foreign Anti- \ \
Slavery Society.' ' J

" II. That the object of the Society be the universal extinction of
slavery and the slave-trade, and the protection of the rights and interests
of the enfranchised population in the British possessions, and of all
persons captured as slaves.

" III. That the following be the fundamental principles of the
Society :— that so long as slavery exists, there is no reasonable prospect
of the annihilation of the slave-trade, and of extinguishing the sale and
barter of human beings ; that the extinction of slavery and the slave-
trade will be attained most effectually by the employment of those
means which are of a moral, religious, and pacific character ; and that
no measures be resorted to by this Society in the prosecution of these
objects but such as are in entire accordance with these principles.

'• IV. That the following be among the means to be employed by
this Society : —

" 1. To circulate, both at home and abroad, accurate information on
the enormities of the slave-trade and slavery ; to furnish evidence to
the iuhabitants of slave-holding countries uot only of the practica-
bility, but of the pecuniary advantage of free labour ; to diffuse
authentic intelligence respecting the results of emancipation in Hayti,
the British Colonies, and elsewhere ; to open a correspondence with the
abolitionists in America, France, and other countries, and to encourage
them in the prosecution of their objects, by all methods consistent with
the principles of this Society.

"2. To recommend the use of free-grown produce, as far as practi-
cable, in preference to slave-grown, and to promote the adoption of
fiscal regulations in favour of free labour.

"3. To obtain the unequivocal recognition of the principle, that the II
slave, of whatever clime or colour, entering any portion of the British "

, dominions, shall be free, the same as upon the shores of the United
Kingdom, and to carry this principle into full and complete effect.

« 4. To recommend that every suitable opportunity be embraced for
evincing, in our intercourse with slave-holders and their apologists, our
j. abhorrence of the system which they uphold, and our sense of its utter
I'i incompatibility with the spirit of the Christian religion."

Almost coeval with the formation of the Society, was the considera-
tion of a proposal for holding a General Convention, made on the 31st
May, 1839. The attention of the Committee was called to this object
in a communication from the Birmingham Anti-Slavery Society,
quoting from an article in the New York Emancipator, of March 21st,
1838. A sub-committee was at once appointed to prepare a circular,
which was adopted at a subsequent meeting, and ordered to be extensively
issued in the English language, and also to be translated into other lan-
guages. This circular contained the fundamental principles of the
Society, and concluded in these words : ■

« The British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, in thus announcing
itself to the friends of the slave of every nation, strongly urges it upou
them, wherever it may be practicable to associate themselves, and
unitedly as well as individually to labour for the extinction of slavery ;
—a system which, whether regarded in a political, moral, or religious
point of view, isalike inimical to the prosperity of nations, corrupting
and demoralizing to every community in which it exists, and utterly at.
If variance with the spirit and precepts of Christianity. For the purpose
|/of promoting this great and truly Christian object, the Society lias con-
' eluded to hold a General Conference in London, to commence on the
12th of June, 1840, in order to deliberate on the best means of pro-
moting the interests of the slave, of obtaining his immediate and
unconditional freedom ; and, by every pacific measure, to hasten the
utter extinction of the slave-trade. To this Conference they earnestly
invite the friends of the slave of every nation and of every clime."

Thus cordially invited, the friends of humanity and of the slave have
as cordially responded, and have come from the east and the west, the
north and south, to unite with those who have called them together in
this hallowed Convention, to discuss a question of the deepest interest
to the human family, and to devise means for bringing to a speedy
termination all those forms of slavery, and that revolting traffic in
slaves, which have done so much to blight and desolate some of the

2]

largest and fairest portions of our globe. Most fervently do I wish and
pray — and do I presume in indulging and expressing my conviction,
that this august assembly has already in spirit devoutly breathed the \
aspiration to Him from whom all Holy desires, all good counsels, and \
all just works do proceed ! — that he may inspire our hearts with love,
and our councils with wisdom, and deign to employ and bless our
efforts to the triumph of righteousness .and mercy, and to the world's
deliverance.

E. BAINES,Esq., M.P.— I have nothing to address to the meeting, except to
move that its cordial thanks he given to Mr. Scales for the very lucid exposi-
tion he has just made of the ohjects of the meeting ; and to express my earnest
desire that those objects he has so well descrihed, and the importance of which
I hope we all earnestly feel, may he attained. I have also to express, and I do
it with great gratification, the pleasure I have in once more seeing my vener-
able friend, Thomas Ci.arkson. I am happy also to he surrounded hy a great
numher of influential men from all countries, who have come to promote this
god-like work. I hope they will continue to exercise that spirit of benevo-
lence which has been so well expressed hy my honourahle and learned friend,
—that they will make a movement in advance, and that that movement will
never cease till it has effected the liberty of all mankind. That such a result
will be accomplished I have no doubt, though it may not be realized in our
time. Who would have expected when our venerable friend first entered on
his lahours, that so much would have been effected as has already heen
attained ? Who would have expected to find the slave-trade abolished, and
slavery itself, so far as England is concerned ? I will not further detain the
meeting, except by proposing,

" That the thanks of this meeting be presented to the Eev. Thomas
Scales, for having prepared the valuable paper, now read, setting forth
the objects of the Convention."

The Rev. J. H. JOHNSON, (Vicar of Tilshead).— It is with feelings of very
great pleasure that I rise to second the motion which has just been made. As
a warm and sincere friend to universal liberty I feel peculiar gratification not
only hecause there appears to be one unanimous feeling that the slave shall
always meet with your sympathy and assistance so long as he is in hondage but
also because I see here persons of every political shade of opinion, and of
various religious sects. I hail this as one of those delightful signs of the times
when men shall learn to love as brethren, and to spend their short remaining
lives not in bickering-not in quarrels, hut in one grand effort to remove from
the face of the earth one of the greatest scourges which has ever afllicted
mankind. I feel pleasure, because I am assured that the Divine counsel must
ever attend efforts of this description, and hecause we have entered on the
husiness of the day, by first imploring, each one for himself, the direction of
Almighty God, without whom nothing is strong and nothing is holy. Vain are
all the contrivances of slave-owners to keep the prey within their grasp, if the
uod of love interpose on our behalf. He has promised that if, whatever our

22

hands find to do, we do it with all our might, He will he with lis in exercising
works of piety and mercy. So long as there shall be a child of Adam in
sorrow, or in the grasp of tyranny and oppression, it is our duty to go on
in this cause. As Christians, professing to feel for the spiritual welfare of
the world, we have much to do ere the gospel can be received by them. Let
the African look at a Christian and know him to be auimated by feelings
like ours, and then we can expect a patient hearing. But what has he gene-
rally seen in the white man ? Appropriately has he styled him " a white .
devil," having every thing but kindness, and love, and mercy, on his lips and
in his heart. Is this the way to send the bright beams of gospel light on that
benighted land 1 Is it to be by oppression, by wrong, by robbery, by murder,
that we aretoteach him the lessons of Jesus ? Oh no. It is by going amongst
them, taking nothing of theirs, but giving them all we can, by laying out our
lives and all we possess in order to do them service. Wheu they see white
men cease to wrong them they will listen to them. When they see hearts of
benevolence, then we may expect that they will throng to the mission-
aries of the cross, and hear the gospel of Christ. When I see Africa, that
large part of the world, covered with paganism, I cannot help thinking that
it is owing to the conduct of Christians that it is so benighted ; still I trust
the time will not be long, ere through the length and breadth of Africa the
gospel of love and mercy shall be spread ; and men be taught there, as we
have been taught here, that with God there is no respect of persons, that
whether a man be carved in ebony or ivory, he is equally acceptable to Him.
Animated by these considerations, let us biud ourselves together, not by vows,
but as one whole family, going forth uuder the blessing of Jesus to conquer
the bad habits of bad meu, to show them that it is to their interest, both here
and there, to let the oppressed go free. With these sentiments, and apolo-
gizing for the length of time I have occupied, I beg most cordially to second
the motion.

The resolution was then put and agreed to.

Mr. JOSEPH STURGE.— I beg before the Chairman withdraws, to intro-
duce to him, and to the meeting, Henuy Beckford from Jamaica, who three
years ago was himself a slave.

Mr. HENRY BECKFORD, (of Jamaica). -I pray Godto look down in mercy
upon the labours of this Society, which has been formed in this country to
deliver us from bondage. I rejoice to see the kind gentleman who, as the root
of this Society, relieved my body from suffering. I rejoice to tender my thanks
to the British ladies from one end of the laud to the other. I have seen the
blood run down the negro's back ; I have seen the poor creatures confined in
chains ; but how shall I rejoice when I return to my native country, to tell my
fricuds that I have seen those gentlemen who delivered us from the accursed
system which was the ruin of men's souls as well as their bodies ! Slavery
brought men down to the level of four-footed beasts ; but now, wheu I return,
no man can ask me where I have been. I came here as a freeman, and I shall
return as the same. I was a slave for twenty-eight years, but look at me and
work on There are other parts of the world where slavery now exists, but I
trust the negroes there will soon become freemen as I am to-day. We hope,
however, that you will assist ns till we become more thoroughly established
in the blessings we now enjoy, and we will assist yon by our prayers till
slavery is abolished throughout the world. I hope that this assembly will

eujoy the blessing of God, a
berations. It is good to be t
engaged in promoting His cause.

Thomas Clarkson, Esq., then retired from the chair, and on the
motion of Mr. Alexander, seconded by Mr. Bennet, W. T. Blaih,
Esq., one of the vice-chairmen was called to occupy it.

The CHAIRMAN. — In being called on immediately to succeed our
venerable and respected President, I cannot but feel and express how un-
deserving I am of the distinction which has been conferred upon me. I can
truly say, without any affectation, that there are very many in the assembly
who possess far stronger claims and better qualifications than myself to occupy
such a position. In bowing, however, to the decision of the Convention, I have
only to throw myself on the kind consideration and indulgence of the
assembly ; and to solicit for myself and my respected colleagues your united
support, in our eudeavours to maintain that good order and harmony which is
essential to the credit of our proceedings. This meeting having been opened
in the usual way, by the speech of our respected President, it would be un-
suitable aud unnecessary for me to detain you by any observations of my own.
But I will just hazard one remark, which may not be altogether unimportant in
reference to the harmony of future proceedings. It must be obvious to every
one present, that this meeting is composed of gentlemeu entertaining a great
diversity of sentiment upon political and religious subjects, as well as others ;
though cordially united, I trust, as one man, in the great object which brings
us together. I trust, that no opinion or expression will escape in the progress
of discussion that can possibly wound the feelings or offend the innocent pre-
judices of any one, that a spirit of forbearance and conciliation will be main-
tained throughout the proceedings, and nothing will be suffered to clash with
the paramount object we have in view.

Mr. G. Thompson, rose to submit a resolution expressive of the
feelings of the Convention in reference to the President, which
motion was withdrawn in order to be re-introduced at the close of the
Convention.

WENDELL PHILLIPS, Esq. (of Boston, Massachusetts, U. S.)— Those
who may have watched the proceedings of this Convention during the presence
of Thomas Clarkson, will have observed that we have not yet provided for
the formation of any roll of membership. There is no constituted body
emanating from this Convention to receive the credentials of delegates,
aud inscribe their names. Several friends who are interested in the matter
have proposed to make a motion to that effect, in the regular course of
business, but it was suggested that as it might lead to discussion, it would
be better to delay it till after the retirement of our venerated friend. I make
these remarks to apologize for the seeming inappropriateness of the motion
which I have to submit to the meeting. It is as follows : —

" That a Committee of five be appointed to prepare a correct list of
the members of this Convention, with instructions to include in such list
all persons bearing credentials from any Anti-Slavery body."

24

It may be necessary before I sit down to state the reason of making thai
motion, when to all appearance there exists on this table a list of delegates.
I do it because, eoming from the state of Massachusetts, there are several of
my eo-delegates, who though in this Hall, have not reeeived an entrance as
members of the Convention by the authority of the Committee of the British
and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, who have undertaken to settle the qualifi-
cations of membership of this body. Under their eontrol the list before me
has been formed ; a list very useful for the purposes of reference or commu-
nication between the various members who have arrived in this eity. But
some of us feeling ourselves, shall I use too harsh a term when I say,
aggrieved ! by this act of the Committee, have thought it our duty to bring the
subject before the Convention. I allude to the refusal of tickets of admission
to the women of Massachusetts. When the call, which was read by Mr.
Tbedgold, reached Ameriea, we found that it was an invitation to the friends
of the slave of every nation, and of every clime. Massachusetts has for
several years'acted on the prineiple of admitting women to an equal seat with
men in the deliberative bodies of anti-slavery societies. When the Massa-
chusetts Anti-Slavery Society received that paper, it interpreted it, as it was
its duty, in the broadest and most liberal sense. If there be any other paper
emanating from the Committee limiting to one sex the qualification of mem-
bership, there is no proof, and as an individual I have no knowledge, that such
a paper ever reached Massachusetts. We stand here in eonsequcnee of your
invitation, and knowing our custom, as it must be presumed you did, we had a
right to interpret "friends of the slave," to include women as well as men.
In such cireuuistanees we do not think it just or equitable to that State, nor
to America in general, that after the trouble, the saerifiee, the self-devotion of
a part of those who leave their families, and kindred, and occupatious in their
own land, to come 4000 miles to attend this World's Convention, they should
be refused a plaee in its deliberations. The meeting will observe that I have
purposely introdueed into the motion language whieh brings the question
before the Convention.

PROFESSOR ADAM, (of Cambridge, Massachusetts, U. S.)— I shall
merely state, that I have great pleasure in expressing my entire coneurrenee
in the sentiments that have now been stated to the meeting. I will only add,
if the ladies who have come from America are not deemed entitled, in eonse-
quence of the credentials they bear, to a place in this assembly, I feel for one
that I am not entitled to oceupy such a position. My credentials proceed
from the same persons, and from the same societies, and bear the same names
as theirs. I have no other authority to appear amongst you, to take a place
in your proceedings, and give a voiee in your deliberations, than that right
which is equally possessed by the ladies to whom a plaee among you has been
denied. In the Society from which I have eome, female exertion is the very
life of us, and of all that we have done, and all we hope to do. To exelude
females, would be to affix a stigma upon them.

Mr. STACEY.— I feel that anyone is plaeedina very invidious position
in having to speak a word against the proposal now made. It is incon-
sistent with our natural feelings to take a part which may seem in the least
degree to imply an unfavourable opinion of the conduet, exertions, influence,
or power of our female friends in this cause. I believe no persons esti-
mate more highly than the Committee of the British and Foreign Anti-
Slavery ■ Society do, the bright example and philanthropic efforts of our

25

female frieuds. But the custom of this country is well known and uniform.
In all matters of mere business, unless females are especially associated
together, and announced as such, in the promotion of the objects in view, they
do not become a part of the working committees. Having, from its formation,
been a member of the Committee from which the invitation referred to was
sent, and having taken a constant part in its proceedings, I feel myself in
some degree qualified to bear testimony to the meaning of such documents as
it has issued ; and I do take the liberty of saying that, to my knowledge, the
document calling this Convention had no reference to, nor did the framers of
it ever contemplate thatit would include, females. We did become aware in
the progress of the business that there was a disposition on the part of some
of our American brethren, and that with the best intention, to construe the
document in question as it might have been construed, had it been issued by
themselves — that is, that it might include females, as well as. men. The
earliest moment that this circumstance came to the knowledge of the Com-
mittee, that Committee issued another circular, which bears date the " 15th of
February," in which the description of those who are to form the Convention
is set forth as consisting of "gentlemen.'' "We thus felt that we had done all
we could to prevent inconvenience to our American friends on this subject,
and supposed that we should not have been brought into difficulty with the
question. But as the point has been introduced, I take it for granted, that
sooner or later the opinion of the Convention must be taken, as to whether
or not females are to become a part of the Convention. I waive all remarks
with respect to the operatiou of the proposal now made ; for I think that the
sooner the matter is brought to a conclusion, the better.

Dr. BOWBING.— I think the custom of excluding females is more honoured
in its breach than in its observance. In this country, sovereign rule is placed
in the hands of a female, and one who has been exercising her great and benig-
naut influence in opposing slavery, by sanctioning, no doubt, the presence of
her illustrious consort, at an Anti-Slavery meeting. We are associated with
a body of Christians, who have given to their women a great, honourable, and
religious prominence. I look upon this delegation from America as one of the
most interesting, the most encouraging, and the most delightful symptoms of
the times. I hope that a committee will be appointed to consider this ques-
tion, and to report on the facts of the case. I cannot believe that we shall
refuse to welcome gratefully the co-operation which is offered to us.

The Rev. J. BURNETII feel that, if there ever was a time when it
was necessary for this Convention to be calm and self-collected, this is that
moment. I have no hesitation in saying, that I feel that the Convention
itself is periled in this discussion, and whilst I have the highest possible
regard for the ladies of America and England, and whilst neither for the one
nor for the other, can I entertain for a moment any feeling but one of
the greatest respect ; I must at the same time claim your indulgence
while I take a calm and deliberate view of the question,— one of the
most important that can be discussed in connexion with the mere forms
of this Convention. We must be calm, and we must be firm ; and I shall be
as firm in the maintenance of my sentiments, as I shall be calm in the state-
ment of them. The gentleman who has proposed the motion, which is now
before you, stated his case very well and very calmly ; and very fairly
stated the claims which the ladies have to the kind consideration of all for
their works of usefulness, and their energy in those works. We hail the

continuance of their works of usefuluess ; we tliauk them for the past, we
trust them in the present, aud we anticipate great things from them in the
future. I would apply this to England as well as to America. The ladies
of England are active and dihgent in all works of benevolence, they have
frequently stimulated to the creation of such institutions as this, when the
lords of creation did not think of creating them. The ladies have earned
them on, when the gentlemen would have found it impossible, from the mul-
tiplicity of demands made on their time by the business m which they are
engaged. But let me say, and I take it for granted, I shall carry with me the
gentleman who moved the resolution when I say that, Enghsh ladies and
English gentlemen are accustomed to consider what takes place on this side
of the water, just as Americau ladies and Americau gentlemen consider
what takes place on their side the water. He thinks that he should put
an American interpretation on American phraseology aud so he ought ; but
upon the same principle he will agree that we ought to put an English inter-
pretation on English phraseology. So far, we stand on precisely the same
..round. But let me add further, that in taking this question into considera-
tion, and deKbeating upon it, it never did occur to the Committee of the
British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, that they were inviting ladies from
any part of the globe, to take an essential part in the proceedings of the Con-
veution. It never was contemplated in the formation of the Society ; it never
was practised iu the doings of the Society ; it never was intended in the reso-
lutions of the Society. I am not now saying, be it remembered, whether it
was right or wrong ; but, this I do say, that it m
consequently, it has come upon us uow without c
was anticipated that such a contingency could a
has been stated by the gentleman who has just addressed you 1
with the indignity offered to these ladies, I should say, that no such mdigmty
was intended. We place them on a level with our own ladies. Uur
wives and our daughters are iu the same position with them. And
sorely, if they are placed in the same position as the ladies of England
it cannot be said that we have cast indignity upon them. I should not
have thought that America would select ladies for such an object. iJut
I welcome those ladies to this Hall ; I welcome them to all the pro-
ceedings where ladies can, according to the custom of the country, take
part. I thauk them for the self-sacrificing devotedness that nought

mtemplated, and
ir contemplation. It never
With regard to what
' i connexion

1 of the feelings
3 intended

them here. Nothing could be a greater i

of the British uation than the idea that the slightest affront -b

them. Nothing could be a greater mistake thau to suppose that anything

was meant towards them hut the profoundest affection, the deepest respect,

and the most cordial welcome. But it is quite another thing to clothe

them with office. To make officers of them is one thing— in connexion

with a custom not pursued in this country; to receive them with kind c

sideration is quite another. My own impression is, that as w

the individuals we cau ohtain in the country to help ns onward, so we must

have their help, and we cannot do without it. But this great change

in all the practices, and feelings, and habits of Englaud— the propriety of

these practices, and feelings, and hahits, is another question, a question

which I am not called now to argue— would, I am convinced, keep away

those whom we cannot do without, and would take away from us those

with whom wc are acting already. I do state my firm conviction — I

! need all

27

use strong language to express a strong eouvietion — it would be better
that tlie Conveution sliould at this moment be dissolved, than that this
resolutiou should be adopted. Some gentlemen say " no, no." I wish them
to think seriously and gravely. If this Convention should take the eourse
proposed by the mover and seeonder of the resolution, I am deeply con-
vinced that they will sincerely regret it. I should say that our American
friends would add another laurel to those they have already reaped in the
Anti-Slavery field, amid their deep self-denial and great suffering, were
they to say at this moment, " Let us not make shipwreek of our vessel, let
us, not even for a moment, put her in a perilous sea. As we are in England
let us aet as England does ; and when EngEsh abolitionists come to America,
we shall expect the same ready couformity. There is no violation of prineiple
in the adoption of the spirit of the land to which we have eome, to mingle
with the inhabitants for the purpose of doing good." As to the first lady
of the land, our honourable and worthy friend, who has just sat down
knows as well as most men, and better than most men, the peculiarities of
that case. It is not necessary, because we have a Queen, henceforth to clothe
all the ladies with office in the general management of. our social affairs. I
do appeal to our friends, with sincere regard, both for them and for their good
ladies, and I hope and trust they will meet the appeal as kindly as it is made.
I beg of them to withdraw this question, and to let the Convention proceed
to its urgent and substantial business.

The Rev. II. GREW.— I stand here, on behalf of Ameriea, while my heart
responds to all the eneomiums passed on the female sex in respeet to the
importance of their eo-operation, their past good work, and their future
efforts, without which I do not antieipate suecess j and while, at the same
time, I wish to express that the invitation to this meeting was understood
by many in America, in the sense represented by my respeeted brother,
yet the proposition now made is not in accordance with my own views of
propriety. Let me add, not that I wish to say anything of a seetarian cha-
racter, the reception of my respeeted female friends, as a part of this
Convention, would in the view of many who stand preeisely in the same
position as I do on this oeeasion, be not only a violation of your customs,
aud of the eustoms of other countries, but of the ordinance of Almighty God,
who has a right to appoint our serviees aecording to his sovereign will.

The Rev. N. COLVER (from Boston, Massachusetts, U. S.)— I do not rise
to discuss this question. I came at the invitation of the Society, with their
explanation before the public, which was understood by a great portion of
the American eommunity preeisely as you understaud it here. From an acci-
dental omission on the part of Mr. Phillips the case has not eome fairly
before the meeting. The Ameriean delegation are represented as being one
ou this subjeet. It is not so. That brother and others are from a Soeiety
which allows of ladies sitting in its meetings ; but a large portion of the
delegates are from another branch who have resisted this attempt to ehange
the customs of the country ; and but for the assurance that the Conventiou
would be composed as it now is, a large number of us would not have been
here to-day.

Mr. STACEY.— I believe it will not be for the good of the" meeting
to go into the abstraet question. I therefore think it is time to have a
substantive resolution upon it. With that view I beg to propose the follow-
ing amendment : — .

" That this Convention, upon a question arising as to the admission-
of females appointed as delegates from America to take their seats in
this body, resolve to deeide this question in the negative."

The Rev. ELON GALUSHA, (of New York, U. S.)-It affords me great
pleasure to second the amendment ; and you will allow me to say, that I am
one of the representatives of a portion of the American public, whose number
is equal to half the population of this great metropolis. And although I have
travelled through all the free states of the Union, I know not of a siugle
individual belonging to the body which I represent, whose views on the subject
do not accord with those of our British friends. I would further say,
that it is my honest and unwavering conviction, that those who entertain a
different view of the question are an exceedingly small minority of the
American people. In support of the other side of this questiou, reference
has been made to your present sovereign. I most cordially approve of the
policy and sound wisdom, and commend to the consideration of our American
female friends who are so deeply interested in the subject, the example of
your noble Queen, who by sanctioning her consort, His Royal Highness, Prince
Albert, in taking the Chair, on an occasion not dissimilar to this, showed her
sense of propriety by putting her Head foremost in an assembly of gentle-
men. I have no objection to woman's beiug the neck to turn the head aright,
but do not wish to see her assume the place of the head.

Dr. ROLPH, (from Upper Canada).— I feel very reluctant to approach this
question ; but I should be wanting in my duty to my own feelings, aud also
to a very large portion of ladies on -the continent of America, if I did uot
express my warm approbation of the resistless appeal made to your feelings by
the eloquent observations of the first Reverend Gentleman who took the nega-
tive side of the question. It must be remembered that this is a question on
which America is undecided, and the decision of the subject by this Con-
vention would impose upon us the invidious office of umpire between two
contending parties in that country. I have witnessed the self-devotedness, the
heroism of Angelina Grimke, and other American females in urging the
abolition of slavery. I am not insensible to their services, and I would be
the last to say anything that could be construed directly or indirectly to
reflect on their character, their heroism, and their devotedness. But in the
consideration and construction of the letter of invitation, it appears that
the Society of Massachusetts has interpreted it contrary to all the rest.
The interpretation thus given ought not to outweigh the opinion founded
on it by all others to whom it has been submitted. I trust, if the Conventiou
comes, as I hope it will, to the negative proposition before it, that it will be
considered neither by Americans nor Englishmen to cast a reproach on the
services of the ladies.

Mr. BRADBURN.— This question has occupied, and is likely to occupy,
more time than I had hoped it would. I had hoped, that the vote would be
taken without discussion ; that here, in a World's Convention, there would be
very little difference of opinion on the subject, how much soever Englishmen,
as such, might differ from some of us respecting it. ¥e have been told, that
when the invitation was issued, no reference was made to women. But I ask,
if, when that invitation was sent into different quarters of the globe, it was
not intended to make this, in reality, a World's Convention of abolitionists—

29

that abolitionists every where should he represented in it 1 "Will any one
undertake to say, that it was intended to exclude from representation in this
body the abolitionists of Massachusetts, and of Pennsylvania ; for it is not
true, as some, one has asserted, that Massachusetts is the only state that has
sent female delegates hither 1 Do you intend to say, that the abolitionists
of those States had not the right to elect such persons as they pleased, to
represent them in this Convention ? But you do say this, if you exclude from
these seats any whom those abolitionists have regularly appointed to occupy
them. I cannot, I will not, believe, that the Committee of the British and
Foreign Anti-Slavery Society did intend thus to tie up the hands of American
abolitionists. And what a misnomer, to call this a "World's Convention of
abolftionists, when some of the oldest and most thorough-going abolitionists
in the world are denied the right to be represented in it by delegates of
their own choice ! The Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society would have
spurned the invitation of the Committee, had it known it was. not at
liberty to elect its own delegates. The members of that Society are none
of yonr half-and-half sort of abolitionists. They are thoroughly imbued
with love for the cause ; have made sacrifices for it ; have been ready, I
trust to die for it, if need were : and they know it were as contradictory of
facts, as it would be ungrateful, to say, that women, in virtue of their sex,
were unqualified to represent them in a Convention of this character. Let it
not be forgotten, that this was designed to be a World's Convention.

W. WILSON, Esq., (of Nottingham). I rise to know what is meant by a
World's Convention ?

Mr. BBADBURN resumed. — The invitation was extended to all abolitionists
throughout the world ; and no doubt it was earnestly desired, as well as
designed, that they should all be represented here. If this were not the grand
prominent idea of the Committee, I know not what it was. I know that some
time after the invitation was sent forth, and after some of our delegates had
been appointed, a letter was published by some one, stating that gentlemen
only were expected to attend. But we neither did nor could regard this as of
any consequence. "We deemed the question of who should sit in the Conven-
tion, would be determined by the Convention itself, not by any self-eonstituted
Committee, and least of all by any individual. But we are now told, that it
would be outraging the tastes, habits, customs, and prejudices of the English
people, to allow women to sit in this Convention. I have a great respect for
the customs of Old England. But I ask, gentlemen, if it be right to set up
the customs and habits, not to say prejudices, of Englishmen, as a standard,
for the government, on this occasion, of Americans and of persons belonging
to several other independent nations ? It seems to me that it were, to say
the least, very unadvisable to do so. I can see neither reason nor policy in
so doing. Besides, I deprecate the principle of this objection. In America
it would exclude from our Conventions all persons of colour ; for there,
customs, habits, tastes, prejudices, would be outraged by their admission. And
I do not wish to be deprived of the aid of those who have done so much for
our cause, for the purpose of gratifying any mere custom or prejudice. I know
that women have furnished most essential aid in accomplishing what has been
accomplished in the state of Massachusetts. If, in the legislature of that
state, I have been able to do any thing in furtherance of this cause, by keeping
on my legs eight or ten hours, day after day, it was mainly owing to the

30

valuable assistance I derived from the won* of Massachusetts. And shall such
women he denied scats in this Convention ! My friend, Geouge Thompson
yonder, can testify to the faithful services rendered to this cause by some
of those same women. He can tell you, that, when "gentlemen of propeity
and standing," in broad day and in broad cloth, undertook to drive him from
the city of Boston, putting his life in peril, it was our women who made then
own persons a bulwark of protection around him? And shall such women
be refused seats here in a Convention seeking the emancipation of slaves
throughout the world? I was sorry to hear my friend from Pennsylvania
say, that he was satisfied with the explanation which had been given 5 that we
ought to understand the invitation in the sense in which it has been said to have
been understood by the Committee. I object to acting on any; such undei-
standing of it, because, as was well observed by another, it would be taking the
English yard-stick to measure the American mmd. And as to its being a sin
against God, to allow women to participate in the proceedings of a body like
this, I confess I was astonished to hear such a sentiment uttered here, for this
is neither the time nor the place to discuss that question. Another friend from
America has said, that there is a difference of opinion there on this subject ;
that the American delegates themselves were not united respecting it and
that the great body of the American people were utterly opposed to the
admission of women into such companies as this. I admit it. But I
have to ask that friend, if he means to say, that the great body of the real,
working abolitionists of America would be opposed to it ? I know they would
not In America, women have taken, and they continue to take, part in
meetings of this sort. On the American Anti-Slavery platform, they stand as
the equals of the men, in respect, at least, of rights and privileges The
American Anti-Slavery Society has decided, that, as members of that body
they ought so to stand. It has been so decided in most of the ocal societies
in Massachusetts, where the standard of abolitionism was first planted. And,
with all deference to the abolitionists present, I say, that the best, the bravest,
and those who have sacrificed most for this cause, are, with very few exceptions,
decidedly on this side of the question ; and they would never have consented
to any participation in the proceedings of this, or of any other Convention
had they supposed that any delegates freely chosen by themselves would be
denied the right to sit in it. Some one has said, that if women are admitted,
they will take sides on this question. Well, what then? Have ^they not jus
as good right to take sides as we have? But I shall be satisfied if his
Convention, not the Committee, wiU decide who are, and who are not, entitled
to seats here. This will also, I doubt not, satisfy the delegates whose seats
are contested. They do not feel at liberty, I speak of those more especially
who have come from Massachusetts, to withhold their credentials from the
Convention, merely because a Committee, not created by this body has seen
fit to reject them. They feel bound, in justice to those by whom they were
sent, to impose the responsibility of receiving, or of rejecting those credentials
upon the Convention itself. They therefore present them, m obedience to
their convictions of duty. You, gentlemen, can dispose of them as yon please.
The CHAIRMAN.— If the discussion proceeds, the second letter ot invita-
tion, explanatory of the first, defining the terms in which the Convention is
called, should be read. Perhaps it will be better that both should be read.
Mr. TREDGOLD.— The first is to this effect.

31

" For the purpose of promoting this great and truly Christian object
the Society has concluded to hold a General Conference in London, to
commence on the 12th of June, 1840, in order to deliberate on the best
means of promoting the interests of the Slave ; of obtaining his imme-
diate and unconditional freedom ; and, by every pacific measure, to
hasten the utter extinction of the Slave-Trade. To this Conference,
they earnestly invite the friends of the Slave of every nation and of
every clime."

The second or explanatory letter is the following :

Mr. PHILLIPS.— Where was that sent to ?

Mr. TREDGOLD — To America.

Mr. PHILLIPS.— To whom ?

Mr. TREDGOLD.— To the Anti-Slavery friends.

Mr. W. "WILSON.— It is of no value to read this unless it was sent to them.

The Rev. J. BURNET.— Read it. It has been so decided by the Chairman.

Mr. TREDGOLD proceeded — " The Committee are anxious early to
receive from the different Anti-Slavery bodies who may appoint depu-
ties, the names of the gentlemen who are to represent them. Such
deputies and the members of the London Committee to form the Confe-
rence. The business of the Conference will comprehend the following,
amongst other matter : — information as to the results of Emancipation
in Hayti : the British West Indies, &c. : the nature and extent of
Slavery in the different countries where it exists, but especially as
regards the African race and their descendants : the nature and extent
of the Slave-Trade j and, finally, the best measures by which, con-
sistently with the great principles on which the Society is founded, the
total and unconditional abolition of slavery and the slave-trade can
be obtained, and the liberties and welfare of the emancipated popu-
lation secured."

Mr. JOSEPH STURGE.— My friend will admit that it appeared in the
Anti-Slavery papers of America.

' COLONEL MILLER, (of Vermont, U. S.)— I fortunately belong to a state
in America which has never been troubled with the woman question. The
women were among our primeval abolitionists. They took it into their heads
to establish a standard of liberty, and were seconded by their husbands. The
question ought not to have come to be settled here ; it ought to have been
settled on our own shores ; but as it is here I may state that I believe in the
right of women, properly and duly delegated, to take a part in this cause of
humanity. I do not claim a pre-eminence for them over men, but they were
early in their attendance at the cross, they were the first and the last at the
sepulchre, and from that time to this, they have taken the van in the march
of civilization and liberty. I agree with the gentleman from Massachusetts

that we will bow with all due deference to your decision. We are not here to
lord it over the Convention. There is not a female delegate from the state
to which I belong ; but if the female friends of the cause in that state were
here, this Hall would not hold them. We have taken up time enough on this
question, I only want a fair and honourable expression of the opinion of the
Convention, and to that expression I pledge myself the delegates from America
will bow.

CAPTAIN STUART (of Bath).— There is plainly a difference of opinion
between our friends from Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, and the Committee
of the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, respecting the interpretation
of the invitation. The Committee give one interpretation ; our friends
another. I leave it to the Convention to settle to which we are to defer ; but
I am persuaded from having travelled in the United States and from having
become acquainted with a large body of abolitionists both in Massachusetts
and Pennsylvania, that some of the noblest and most uncompromising friends
of liberty and of the slave there, are against the reception of lady delegates,
and in favour of the British view. I am satisfied that there is a vast amount
of that feeling.

Mr. W. ALLEN.— There is one thing which I would submit to the Conven-
tion. I would urge them to consider the value of the cause which we are
all met to promote. I do not give an opinion with regard to the propriety
of female delegates, but I do regret that a motion of this kind has been mooted
here. It may be a subject for grave consideration at another time and in
another place, but I lament that at this Convention, met for a different
purpose we should have anything thrown in amongst us which is likely to
prove an apple of discord. I put it to every one who loves the cause, whether
such sentiments as have been advanced ought not to have been kept in abey-
ance. During the discussion of the question I have thought of what took
place at Ephesus ; when there was a great commotion, and the officer came in
to quell the tumult raised, he exhorted them to quietness, not to go into dis-
putes of that kind, adding, if there is anything to be brought forward let it
"be determined in a lawful assembly ; for we are in danger to be called in ques-
tion for this day's uproar."

Mr. Gr. THOMPSON— I desire to obtain the attention of the Convention '
for a few moments, because the question is one on which I think the fate
of the Convention, for all good purposes, hinges. It is my satisfaction to
feel assured, that there is not an individual in the assembly who knows the
view I am about to take of this question, or the vote which I am about to
give upon it, if unhappily a vote should be called for. My esteemed friends
who sit in your presence to-day, and whom I delight to see here, and to recog-
nise as among the foremost and fastest defenders, both of jny principles and my
person, in the United States of America, will bear me witness that I have
hitherto refrained from the expression of any opinions, except those which had
reference to the policy which might commend itself to them, in order to see
what was their feeling of duty, and to ascertain what was their principle
of action ; and be to them the faithful interpreter of the true state of our
country upon the question which concerns them, our customs, our laws,
our feelings, our prejudices, our antipathies. I have deprecated most
sincerely the introduction of the abstract question into this Convention. I
have anticipated it with dread ; and I now feel that though unhappily we
are not in a condition to retrace our steps, yet we may possibly avert

the consequences which must inevitably 'arise, if we become partizans in
this matter, if we commit ourselves by our votes, if we array ourselves
on one side or the other, and on a future occasion, in consequence of our
recorded votes, should regard each other as friends with whom alone we can
associate, or opponents from whom we must stand aloof. I am speaking of the
effects of a decisive vote. (.Cries of no, no). Gentlemen may say " no," but I argue
from universal experience. When a vote is given opposite to me, I caunot help
the feeling arising in my mind, that the gentleman who has given it stands
opposed to my conviction of what is right and wrong. But, I say, we
may possibly avoid that, if a middle course be taken. I have listened to
the arguments advanced on this side, and on that, of this vexed question.
I listened with the profouudest attention to the arguments of Mr. Burnet,
expecting that, from him— as I was justified in expecting— I should hear the
strongest arguments that could be adduced upon this or any other subject
upon which he might be pleased to employ his talents, or which he might
adorn by his eloquence. What are his arguments ? Let it be premised, as I
speak in the presence of American friends, that that gentleman is one of the
best known controversialists in this country ; and one of the best authorities
upon questions of business, points of order, and matters of principle. What
are the strongest arguments which one of the greatest champions, on any
question which he choses to espouse, has brought forward ? They are these,
first, that English phraseology should be construed according to English usages ;
secondly, that it was never contemplated by the Anti-Slavery Committee that
ladies should occupy a seat in this Convention ; thirdly, that the ladies of
England are not here as delegates ; fourthly, that he has no desire, nor has
any other individual, to offer an affront to, still less to insult, the ladies now
before us. These are the strong arguments, I presume the strongest argu-
ments, which that gentleman has to adduce : for he never fails to use to the
best advantage the resources within his reach. I look at these arguments, and
I place on the other side of the question, the fact, that there are in this
assembly ladies who present themselves as delegates from the oldest societies
in America, the originators of all the other societies of America. I expected
that Mr. Burnet would, as he was bound to do, if he intended to offer a
successful opposition to their introduction into this Convention, grapple with
the constitutionality of their credentials. I thought he would come to the
question of title ; I thought he would dispute the right of a Convention
assembled in Philadelphia for the abolition of Slavery, consisting of delegates
from the different states in the union, and comprised of individuals of both
sexes, to send one or all of the ladies now in our presence. I thought he
would grapple with the fact, that those ladies came to us who have no
slavery, from a country in which they have slaves, as the representatives
of two millions and a half of captives. Let gentlemen when they come
to vote on this question remember, that in receiving or rejecting these
ladies, they acknowledge or despise, (loud cries of no, no). I ask gentlemen
who shout "no," if they know the application I am about to make ? I did not
mean to say you would despise the ladies, but that you would by your vote
acknowledge or despise the parties whose cause they espouse. Something has
been said about usages and customs. It appears that we are prepared to sanc-
tion ladies in the employment of all means, so long as they are confessedly
unequal with ourselves. It seems that the grand objection to their appear-
ance amongst us is this, that it would be placing them on a footing of equality,

34

ii u i. „„„,_,,.,, tn niinciTJle and custom. I suppose I

^ th t^:7L^Zo^^S which have been employed.
?:Lfd o nVrnZtrn anxiety for "the settlement of the .nestion ; but
I stid here fn peculiar circumstances. I have been in the country from
IS tho- ladiL come, and I should wrong both them and myself f! &i

It is agam replied, because it is _ ™ j thig

time when sum gentlemen talk of not affronting such

These ladies came from the United States, the representatives of large associ-
SoTs .to!Xi» has spoken of a majority in Amer ca hemg opposed

their inferior zeal 1 Oh, ^t we a 1 oppo^ea s y Convent i n, we should

instead of being the opposers of the r enhance into

f eel ourselves honoured ^^sTtJ 1Z?L\™ above all

^tTm^^^^^

S e u^STwS 3 » W-: ST=

with us to-day I Because f^*™^™ h ™ principles to make the
absorbed in business or too temp ™g -^ J e ca ^ ed their banner
San ;L Sa vaf 4ile t^ Zntave humbly followed in the rear. It is well

££ IS National W£»gJ^^»£S£
a mission, to rouse the spirits of New England w°™». d ; onis but

fished woman *£*«£» ent no only^n ^ drawmg^roo ^ ^ ^
before the senate of Massachusetts. Le ' *™ who did not disd ain to

which are maoiaged by ladies. These tmn s x smu* j

fellow-labourers, that you may have their characters before you Upon the
abstraet question I have my own feelings. I am deeided upon this point,
that it would have been better to have kept that question out of the Con-
vention. I have laboured up to the eleventh hour to effect this. If now
after the expression of opinion on various sides, the motion should be
withdrawn, with the eonsent of all parties, I should be glad. But when I
look at the arguments against the title of these women to sit amongst us, I
cannot but eonsider them frivolous and groundless. The simple question
before us, rs, whether these ladies, taking into aceount the credentials they
hold, the talent they have displayed, the sufferings they have endured,
the journey they have undertaken, should be acknowledged by us, in virtue
of these high titles, or be shut out for the reasons stated. One gentleman has
said, that if we do not exelude them we shall regret it. What shall we have to
regret ? _ Our magnanimity, our justiee, our gentlemanly feeling ? What harm
can their admission do ? unless their opponents should feel so straitened,
that they cannot co-operate with them, and those who admit them. It may be
said, that beyond this place, the fact of their admission may tell against our
eause. I have anticipated these diffieulties. But I apprehend that division
and exelusion will be attended with still greater danger. If our frieuds by
an expression of their opinion, in a protest against the opinion of the Com-
mittee, to be laid on the table, can discharge their duty to those who have
delegated them, and withdraw the motion, I should feel thankful for such a
tei-mmation of the debate. To conelude, having seen the devoted heroism,
the unblameable conduet of the ladies now amongst us, I felt that I should
have been reereant to all that is honourable, and just, and grateful, if I had
forborne to bear my testimony iu their behalf. I am perhaps, in some
degree, to blame for the appearanee of some of these ladies. When the call
for this Convention first went out, I wrote to the United States, expressing
a hope to see, not only a strong muster of the male champions of the
cause but of the ladies. What, however, I have already said to the ladies
elsewhere, I now say on this oeeasiou, to elear myself from suspicion, that
I had no referenee to the capacity in which they should eome. I did not
refer to their being formally delegated. I do not remember that sueh a
thought was before my mind. I hoped many of them might be able to come
and I eould wish, if it were without strife and debate among us, that they
had been a thousand times as many as they are. AVith these views I
reeommeud the Ameriean Mends, with all the respeet I ean express, to with-
draw their_ motion. I have boldly uttered my opinion, they have as boldly
uttered theirs ; and as nothing is to be gained, and much may be lost by a
vote, I repeat the expression of my hope, that they will prevent the necessity
of taking the ayes and the noes on the question of admitting or excluding
these onr estimable sisters ; and I hope that those ladies will be disposed to
unite most eordially in any plan, whieh may promote the peaee of the Conven-
tion, and the prosperity of the cause in which we are all engaged.

Mr STACEY.-I will withdraw the amendment, on the eondition that our
iriend from America will withdraw the original motion ; otherwise I believe
the Convention must go to the question, yea, or nay. I trust, however, that
we shall not be driven to this alternative.

Mr. PHILLIPS.— It has been hinted very respeetfully by two or three
speakers that the Delegates from the state of Massachusetts should withdraw
their eredentials, or the motion before the meeting. The one appear* to me

to be equivalent to the other. If this motion be withdrawn we must
have another. I would merely ask, whether any man can suppose tlmt
the Delegates from Massachusetts or Pennsylvania can take upon their
shoulders the responsibility of withdrawing that list of delegates from your
table which their constituents told them to place there, and whom they
sanctioned as their fit representatives, because this Convention tells us that
it is not ready to meet the ridicule of the morning papers, and to stand up
against the customs of England. In America we listen to no such argu-
ments. If we had done so, we had never been here as abolitionists It is
the custom there not to admit coloured men into respectable society, and
we have been told again and again, that we are outraging the decencies of
humanity when we permit coloured men to sit by our side. When we have
submitted to brick bats, and the tar tub and feathers, in America, rather than
yield to the custom prevalent there of not admitting coloured brethren into
our friendship, shall we yield to a parallel custom or prejudice m Old
England? I wish to add one word. We cannot yield this question if we
would : for it is a matter of conscience. But we would not yield it on the
ground of expediency. In doing so, we should feel that we are stnkmg off
the right arm of our enterprise. We could not go back to America to ask
for any aid from the women of Massachusetts, if we had deserted them when
they chose to send out their own sisters as their representatives here We
could not go back to Massachusetts, and assert the unchangeableness of spnit
on the question. We have argued it over and over again, and decided it time
after time in every Society in the land in favour of the women. We : have
not changed by crossing the water. We stand here the advocates of the
same principle that we contend for in America. We think it right for women
to sit by our side there, and we think it right for them to do the same here.
We ask the Convention to admit them : if they do not choose to grant it, the
responsibility rests upon their own shoulders. Massachusetts cannot turn
aide, or succumb to any prejudices or customs even in the land she looks
"on with so much reverence as the land of Wa«^ , of CJlabmok
and of O'Covvell. It is a matter of conscience, and British virtue ought

not to ask us to yield it.

The CHAIRMAN.— Mr. Phillips having now replied, I will put the

qU Dr?BOWRING;.— When the gentleman who has moved a resolution has
snoken in reply it is not usual to re-open the question. _

The CHAIBMAN.-It appeared to me that Mr. Phillips having exercised
his rieht of reply, the debate must close.

W H ASHUBST,Esq.-Mr. Phillips was called upon to say whether
he would or would not withdraw the motion. He gave his reason why he
could not withdraw it. If I had supposed that he had risen to reply, I should
have interuosed to make a few remarks.

The CHAmMAN.-I understand from Mr. Philips that he had no idea
of making a reply but only to answer a question, the discussion may therefore

^ThTllev. J. H. JOHNSON.-We must come to a division and the sooner
th T Je Bev. CHARLES EDWABDS LESTEB, (of Utica US.) I trust we
shall meet the question likemen, and not disgrace those who have sent us
WILLIAM CAIRNS, Esq, (of Edinburgh)._In order to settle this question

without offending the feelings of any party, I have drawn Up an amendment

It is this :—

" That this Convention feels itself placed in a state of great perplexity
in reference to the female delegates from Massachusetts and Pennsyl-
vania ; and they regret that, agreeably to the terms employed in
describing the persons who were to be delegates of the Convention, they
cannot recognize them as delegates ; they at the same time contemplate
with feelings of the highest satisfaction the zeal and intrepidity, as well
as philanthropy, which have been so nobly manifested by them in this
cause, and in their coming 4000 miles to be present at this meeting."

Mr. ASHURST.— It does not matter in the consideration of this question
what were the intentions of the Committee in issuing the invitation • we are
now to consider what ought to he the extent of the invitation given hy a
Convention like this. It is clearly a meeting on the principles of universal
henevolence, and you ought to welcome all human heings who come here for
the purpose of carrying those principles into effect. It has heen stated by
those who are able to hear their testimony, that to those whom you now propose
to exclude, you owe the deputation which has come from America ; and yet at
the first Convention met to act on the principles of universality, you propose
to commence hy disfranchising one-half of creation. Are not these women
as competent as yourselves to judge of the principles of Christianity, and
to bring forth the best affections of our nature ? If these are their quali-
fications, should you upon principle exclude them. It seems impossible for
you or for any Christian men to draw that conclusion. I use that argumenta-
tively, because I am aware that many take a different view of the same
principle. This is my view of the subject— not casting the least reflection
upon those who vote against me. But let us look at the arguments which
have been brought forward by a gentleman who would have adduced others if
they were to be found. The only argument is, that you must construe the
invitation according to the custom of the country in which you are assembled.
What would be the result of such an argument employed in Virginia ? Would'
they not say that slavery is the custom here, and therefore you have no right
to place yourselves in opposition to the prejudices and customs of society
by attempting to put it down. But come back to our principle. You
are convened to influence society upon a subject connected with the
kindliest feelings of our nature ; and being the first assembly met to shake
hands with other nations, and employ your combined efforts to annihilate
slavery throughout the world, are you to commence by saying, "we will take
away the rights of one-half of creation ?" That is the principle which you
are putting forward.

The Rev. A. HARVEY, (of Glasgow).— I regret exceedingly that this ques-
tion should have been brought before the notice of the Convention. I am
sure that every individual who was present during the two first hours of our
meeting was deeply and solemnly impressed with the vast importance of the
cause on which we are met; aud I think there has nnhappily been brought
before us a question, altogether foreign to the object for which we have

assembled The question for discussion now, is not whether we are to deliver
"n^ the condition of abject slavery, hut whether from tins Convention
Tere shall S o forth a decision in reference to the rights °f females.
Til seem to he the point involved in the present debate I will yield to
none in the high estimate which I form of female talent, female genius, female
none in the ni S°^ ln " x b u that t]ley have laboured

SSS^T^SSSt the sphere which they have hitherto
most efecientiy in xn pr0 motc the grand object m

r/^iUt wUUX comii forward Jsit in such a meeting as this
femaiesa^ein their own sphere. I have my doubts on he subjec . The
qu^stion^s whether in recognizing them as members of this Convention, we
Lu d no be introducing thSi into aposition which ^f^™^™
cau=e I am certain that it would be in direct opposition to the opinion of a
vast majority of the people of this country. But we must look at the coii-
letuencis. It was stated by a brother from America that with him it is a
matter of conscience ; and it is a question of conscience wi h me too I have
certain views in relation to the teaching of the word of God and _ ot
°tne particular sphere in which woman is to art I ^ «* whetiu*
I am riffht in my interpretation of the word of God 01 not, that my o^n
Lrded'convictionsarefif I were to give a vote in favour -ottorim
sitting and deliberating in such an assembly as this, that 1 ^^
acting in opposition to the plain teaching of the word of God I jnay -be
«butl have a conscience on the subject ; and I am sure that theie ^
number present of the same mind. I must, however, state that I a^iii e the
devotedness of character exhibited by the females of America and I admire
stinmoie ne heroism and the zeal, the enlightened -eal which they have
£pCa: although in the present *-^^^T^E£££
us for their admission is not quite m accordance with the view lento tain
withrespectto the sphere of femalelabour, yet I will call it enlightened _zeal
foi the amelioration of the unhappy condition of so many ™f™*? ™
oppressed and injured fellow men. I tender them my warmes 'J^^
their zeal ; I hold them up as examples for British imitation ; and I am sure
thaf whether thev are admitted into the Convention or not the very devoted-
ness wh^ they have displayed will have a most electric effect on the females
of England, and tend to raise them to a degree of activity and self-sacrifice
such as they have never before exhibited in this good cause. _

The Rev J. A. JAMES.-I have not been an inattentive, an indifferent, 01
an inactive spectator, so far as I could observe it from the shores of my own
country of the progress of the abolition of slavery m America. And such
h"b Intleimjrefsion produced on my own mind by the exertions of those
iltastrious females, of whose names America may justly be proud, that I
would have travelled to the metropolis, hadit been for no "^^^^i
I have enjoyed the gratification of seeing Mrs. Chapmah ^J*?*™
But I am quite sure, that in this assembly this morning, had even tlwy been
present, they would rather by their presence have prejudiced than promoted
that cause which is dearer to their own hearts than life. I am sorry that
the abstract question of the rights of woman has occupied so large a share
of the attention of the Convention. I regret that this question, litigated so
warmly in America, should have been brought here for our decision. It
would have been better to have settled it there.; and that we should

have been suffered to pursue our own course, without being embarrassed
by the introduction of this subject. But one or two expressions have been
used by gentlemen from America which delighted my heart, and which led
me to imagine, that, although we could not come to an agreement in sentiment,
yet we should not be materially disturbed in the feelings with which we
regarded each other. I was pleased with the declaration of Colonel Miller,
that he was prepared for oue to bow to the decision of the assembly ; and,
though Mr. Phillips cannot conscientiously consent to withdraw the reso-
lution, and therefore the question cannot come to a conclusion without a vote,
yet it will be considered as a point of conscience with us all, and not simply
as a matter of opinion and disagreement ; and however we may give out-
vote, we shall stand prepared to abide by the decision of the majority, and go
forward in this good work with a perfect confidence in each other's conscien-
tious motives, though we may not have the same confidence in the correctness
of each other's opinions. We shall differ on many subjects, and it is not to
be expected but that there should, on so delicate a subject as this, be a
difference of opinion. The question is almost new in this country, aud this
is not the assembly where it should have been mooted. We are not yet
prepared to discuss it. Our brethren from America may charge us with some
obtuseness of understanding, on a point which has commended itself to their
more acute vision. We are not prepared to jump to a conclusion. The ques-
tion involves in this, and every country far wider considerations than even the
Anti-Slavery cause itself. I trust, therefore, that we shall not gratify the
enemies of that cause, by quarrelling on the very threshold of it, that
we shall not strengthen the prejudice of those who have imbibed prejudice
already against the whole subject; but that if we do vote, and should oppose
each other, as I presume we must do, it will be only opposition of sentiment.
Our friends from America have done honour to themselves by the firmness,
I will not say the pertinacity, with which they have held their opinions.
They will stand acquitted, at the bar of their own couutry, of all accusations
of lukewarmness. The female part of Massachusetts will never reproach
them with having deserted their s cause. They will carry back no disgrace
from this country ; on the contrary, they will go back honoured amongst all
those who sent them here to represent their claims. Should it be, that in the
progress of sentiment amongst us, we shall one day agree with them in
opinion, then, how welcome will be those females withiu the bar, who are
this day placed above it and beyond it ; and who, they will permit me to say,
do not, in my judgment, disgrace themselves by being there. They are
entitled to our admiration, for much they have done in America. No man
can have read the " Martyr Age," and have gone through those glowing pages,
which to me possessed the charms of romance, without formiug the highest
opinion of the devotedness, the talents, and the heroism of the women of
America. If any thing could have convinced me that those females ought this
morning to have been amongst us, instead of with us and around us, that
pamphlet would have done it. America is the only country yet, which, in fact
can boast of a very extended martyrology in this great cause ; and they will
add another laurel to their brow, if they will but concede the point we are
now discussing. I trust, that though we should beat them, and if it be earned
to the vote, I believe, and I hope we shall, they will go through with us in
the delightful proceedings of an assembly unequalled in the world. It is the
first of the kind that has been presented on the face of our globe since slavery
has existed. I hope all that has occurred on this question, will be only like

40

i the test concerted u

the notes of discord sometimes introduced i

make the harmony the sweeter.

The CHAIRMAN.-We will take the decision on the original motion.
After the long time during which the subject has been under discussion, and
the general call for a division, I am hound to say that we must divide.

The motion of Mr. Cairns not having been seconded, fell to the ground.

Mr STACEY— I consented to withdraw my amendment only on the

condition, that Wendell Phillips would withdraw his original motion ; as

he has not withdrawn it, my amendment must he submitted to the Con-

vention.

The CHAIRMAN again said, he was ready to put the question.
The Rev. Dr. COX.— We were told that every thing was to be done in
calmness ; that every thing was to be done in the manner demanded by the
solemnity of the occasion. I do not think that it is competent for any number
of gentlemen to call upon the Chairman to come to a prompt decision,
and say that others are not to be heard. Considering that some gentlemen have
come across the Atlantic, and that this is a question of the greatest possible
interest, I do think that gentlemen ought to be heard, unless the impatience
of the assembly is such that they will not attend to them. I think gentlemen
on the other side have aright to be heard ; if they are not heard, I shall move
an adjournment.

Mr. FULLER.— I apprehend that I represent a larger constituency
than any man here. I am surprised that I should be prevented from
speaking while a number of others have been allowed to go on. I hope
that we shall not be prevented from having a hearing. One friend said, that
this question ought to have been settled on the other side of the Atlantic.
Why it was there decided in favour of the women a year ago. With regard
to the invitation, there was nothing about « gentlemen" in the first invitation,
and the women from Pennsylvania were appointed, previously to the issuing
of the amended notice calling this meeting. This is the only explanation I
want to make.

Captain WAUCHOPE, R. N. (delegate from Carlisle).— In whatever country
an institution may be formed, something should be given up to the feelings
and prejudices of that country. Now I hold that England has something to
say upon the efforts which have been made to annihilate slavery. The
ladies across the Atlantic have exerted themselves nobly, and I trust that
they will continue their efforts, even though this question should be carried
against them. I entreat the ladies not to push the question too far. They
do not fully comprehend the feelings of this country on the subject. I wish
to know whether our friends from America are prepared to cast off England
altogether 2 Have we not given £20,000,000 of our money for the purpose of
doing away with the abominations of slavery ? Is not that proof that we are
in earnest about it ? I can answer for the friends of emancipation here, that
if this society had been established in America, they would never have mooted
the question of the exclusion of females ; but I must say, that our American
friends are violating the feelings of the country in which they are now
assembled. I trust they will do nothing calculated to cripple the great cause
jn which we are engaged.

The CHAIRMAN.— Permit ine to say in reference to an observation which

41

fell from a gentleman at the end of the room, (Mr. Fuller), that I trust
I am not in the least disposed to limit the freedom of debate. I thought that
I was only interpreting the general feeling of the meeting when I suggested
that the time had arrived to take the vote.

Mr. BIRNEY.— I rise to correct an erroneous impression which may have
been made on the Convention by what has fallen from some of my American
friends, as well as from my friend, Mr. Thompson. They spoke as if
the question of promiscuous female representation in the Anti-Slavery
Societies of the United States was already settled. This, in my apprehension,
is far from being the case. The question is a mooted one there as here ; it
has been as distracting to Anti-Slavery Conventions there, as it is likely
to become to this Convention, if it be obstinately persisted in. It has been
stated, that the right of women to sit and act in all respects as men
in our Anti-Slavery associations, was decided in the affirmative at the
annual meeting of the American Anti-Slavery Society, in May, 1839. It is
true, the claim was so decided on that occasion, but not by a large majority ;
whilst it is also true, that the majority was swelled by the votes of the women
themselves. A portion of the minority thought they were called on to protest
in a formal manner against the act of the majority, which they accordingly
did. Since that decision, the question has been pressed with great pertinacity
by those who favour the right of women to sit in the Anti-Slavery meetings,
and resisted in the same manner by those who are opposed to it. Votes have
been taken in several instances in the auxiliary societies j and wherever
the result has been in favour of the admission of female representation,
females have themselves voted. In Massachusetts it has been made a principal
ground of separation between the abolitionists of that State. It is true, there
were other grounds of separation deemed more obnoxious than the one now
under discussion; but it was one of the grounds, and considered by no means
an unimportant one. The abolitionists who were in the negative on the
women's rights" question, and who thought the other ground of separation
alluded to still more imperative, separated from the old society and instituted
another, which is conducted exclusively by men. I regret that it has been
thought proper by my friend, Mr. Thompson, to institute any comparison
between the two parties, as to the thrrouglmess of their abolitionism. He
cannot but know, that in the new society, there are those whose purity as
abolitionists cannot be questioned, or even disparaged by any comparison into
which they may be brought with others, no matter how high those others may
stand in his estimation. I think it proper also here to state, that I have just
received from a gentleman in New York, well known to Mr. Thompson one
whose Anti-Slavery standard he, (Mr. T.) would be among the last, in anyway
to underrate, a letter communicating the fact, that the persistence of the
friends of promiscuous female representation, in pressing that practice
on the American Anti-Slavery Society, at its annual meeting on the 12th
t ^ !T ' f oaused such disagreement among the members present, that
he and others who viewed the subject as he did, were then deliberating on
measures for seceding from the old organization, and instituting a new one
from which this cause of dissension would be excluded. The immediate'
is this : the Chairman of the meeting, one of .the

occasion of the

Vice-Presidents of the Society,who it is understood is decidedly favourable to
female representation, m appointing the « business Committee," nominated a
lady as a member of it, together with Mr. L. Taepan and others who were well

known to be opposed to ladies acting in such matters promiscuously with
gentlemen. The lady was not herself present at the meeting. It was moved
that the husband of the lady, a gentleman in every way qualified for any
station for which respectability and intelligence are considered qualifications,
should be substituted for his wife. This, as I understand the letter, was not
doue, but instead of it another lady was made the substitute for the oue who
had been nominated in her absence. Believing that the time had at length
come when the American Society was to be made the instrument of carrying
this measure, in connexion with others still more obnoxious, which were
known to be cherished by the most zealous of the women's rights party ; and
not being ready to aid in any way in furthering such purposes, a large number
withdrew from the Society, and were, at the date of the communication,delibe-
rating on the organization of a new association,from which all matters of reform,
except those inseparably connected with slavery and emancipation, should be
carefully excluded. I have alluded to other measures deemed still more obnox-
ious than the women's rights question, but to which the latter was considered as
having been associated by themost zealous of its supporters. These may be con-
sidered as coming within the designation of the Non-Resistance or theNo-human
government scheme. I think it may truly be said, and without exception so
far as I am informed, that the members of this sect, one that is new in the
United States, and which denies the rightful existence of all human govern-
ments, except such as are merely advisory, are zealous for the perfect equali-
zation of the sexes as to rights, duties, Sec, &c. But whilst I give this as my
opinion, I must also say, that there are among us in America, multitudes of
abolitionists of the firmest and most approved texture, the friends and sup-
porters of human governments as they now exist, who also believe, that by
the constitution of the American Anti-Slavery Society (in which its members
are described as "persons"), females desiring to be considered as members
cannot be excluded. I do not so interpret the constitution. I have thought
it due to those whom I, in part, represent, as well as to this Convention, to
make this statement, trusting that it will aid us in some measure, iu coming
to "an intelligent decision of the question before ns.

Mr. BRADBURN.— I wish to speak to certain facts. I know from the
kind attention which the meeting has already paid, that it wishes to get at

The Rev. J. BURNET.— I speak to a point of order. Our worthy friend
is about to speak to facts, in the way of reply to the gentleman who has just
sat down. That is not what we call explanation, and it cannot be entered upon.
I would just say, that this question must come to a close at some time, or the
business of the Convention can never be done.

The CHAIRMAN.— Mr. Buknet has rightly interpreted the rules; uo
gentleman who has spoken before can speak in reply, or otherwise, to matters
of fact, except the gentleman who opened the discussion.

Mr. Gr. THOMPSON.— In what I said, I did not intend to institute a
comparison between parties who had divided.

The Rev. C. STOVEL.— I think that the whole of the question has now
become one entirely of order. I think, that we are convened here by your
summons sent to the United States, and to several parts of the world from
which we now have delegates. I fancy that we have been convened on a
question relating to negro slavery; or rather, we are now an Anti-Slavery
body. I know that we have a right to constitute ourselves, and that we

43

have a right to sit on that question ; but whilst we have been speaking
on this question respecting the reception of delegates, we have been brought
to a topic, which however it may have been discussed in America, is oue
which is totally new to me. I never heard a word about it before. I
certainly never studied what is called the rights of women. I would not
withhold from them one right. I would give them more thau their rights ;
for I think the women will be badly off when they have nothing but their
rights, and the men also. I do not think that this is the time when that
should be discussed. I appeal to you on all sides of the question, whether
what you are pursuing is the great object for which we are met, whether it
forms any part of the order of our proceedings % We ought not to be com-
pelled to discuss this question, or to decide upon it now. If it tears your
Societies to pieces in the United States, why would you tear in pieces our
Convention ? If I had been on the Committee, and the Committee had voted
to receive ladies, I would receive them as a matter of courtesy. But when
you attempt to divide the Conventiou on this subject, you are out of order, and
we ought not to entertain the question. My vote is, that we confirm the list of
delegates ; that we take votes on that, as an amendment ; and that we heuce-
forth entertain this question no more. Arc we not met here pledged to
sacrifice all but every thing, in order that we may do somethiug against slavery,
and shall we be divided on this paltry question, and suffer the whole tide of
benevolence to be stopped by a straw ? No ! You talk of being men, then be
men. Consider what is worthy your attention. You talk of possessing liberty,
then by all means conduct yourselves as freemen ought to do. You have
undertaken to do something to destroy slavery ; expose not yourselves then to
ridicule, through the length and breadth of the country, by a question of this
sort. If you are wise men use wisdom, and if you are strong men use strength
in the accomplishment of what yon have undertaken to do. If you think it
right, when you have done this work, sit down and consider the rights of
women. I shall move as an amendment that the. list of delegates taken by
the Committee be adopted.

S. J. PRESCOD, Esq., (of Barbadoes). — I wish to state a very simple
circumstance in connexion with this question which has been most impro-
perly forced upon us. The fact is this, that the ladies themselves did not
come here with a certain expectation of being received amongst us. I had
this fact from the ladies themselves. The ladies were elected conditionally,
namely, that if the customs of this country and the sense of the Convention
were against their sitting with us, they were absolved from all responsibility.
I state this, not only in the presence of the American delegates, but of the
ladies themselves.

The Rev. W. BEVAN. — I beg to protest against mere private conver-
sations being repeated before a public assembly.

Mr. PRESCOD.— The conversation which took place last night was not a
private one. There was a preliminary meeting at which persons, uot delegates,
were present.

One or two gentlemen denied that Mr. Prescod had given an accu-
rate representation of what had taken place.

The CHAIRMAN.— The speaker is decidedly out of order in giving the
details of private conversations ; he has clearly no right to do so.

44

The Rev. Dr. MORRISON— I feel, I believe, as our brethren from America
and many English friends do at this moment, that we are treading on the brink of
a precipice ; and that precipice is the awakening in our bosoms by this discussion,
feelings that will not only be averse to the great object for which we are
assembled, but inconsistent, perhaps, in some degree with the Christian spirit,
which I trust will pervade all meetings connected with the Anti-Slavery
cause. For I do believe that whatever has been done to purpose in this
great work in our own country, or in any other, has been effected mainly
under the guidance and direction of Christian principle. There are, we must
all perceive, firm minded men, on both sides of this question. The Americans
have proved themselves to be firm minded men ; and I honour them for it ;
but they must see also that English Christians are equally firm and decided in
the course which they intend to pursue. It is a question of conscience between
the two parties ; but it is a question of conscience between a very small
minority on the one side, and a mighty majority on the other. If you discuss
this topic, not only till the sun goes down, but until this Convention shall be
under the necessity of breaking up, is there a shadow of hope in the mind of
any American, or of any Englishman, that such discussion will harmonize
the minds of the Convention 2 I do hope that our American friends, consi-
dering what a small minority they are, will withdraw the motion: for on
no other ground can unity be secured. I cannot yield my convictions
till I have had the same opportunity of discussing this topic as has been
enjoyed by my American friends. They have already anxiously discussed
it ; but the people of this country have not. But have their discussions of it
across the Atlantic tended to harmony 2 I say, unhesitatingly, because I
know it, they have not. Will they then, upon a question of a minor order, divert
attention from the great object for which we have been convened I Will they
so far sacrifice themselves— their Christian selves— their Christian manhood—
and the cause which I believe is most dear to them, and which I know they
have proved by the sacrifices which they have made for its promotion I Will
they on a minor question— the admission of female delegates from a small
section of the American continent— run the hazard, the fearful hazard, of
exciting a spirit which may tarnish the whole procedure in which we are
engaged 2 I beseech then calmly to consider the nature of these proceedings.
This is very unlike the meetings we have hitherto held. We have been
unanimous against the common foe ; but we are this day in danger of creating
a division among heartfelt friends. Will our American brethren put us in
this position? Will they keep up a discussion in which the delicacy, the
honour, the respectability, of these excellent females, who have come from the
western world, are concerned. I tremble at the thought of discussing the
question in the presence of these ladies, for whom I entertain the most pro-
found respect. I am bold to say, that but for the introduction of the question
of woman's rights, that it would be impossible for the shrinking nature of
woman to subject itself to the infliction of such a discussion as this. I
do entreat, Mr. Chairman, that you will keep the meeting to its business.
I am not here to instruct you ; you are better capable of instructing me.
I have known you long, and your devotion to this cause. I look around me
on men whose hearts are warm in it, and none beats more warmly in the
cause than those of the Americans. I have held correspondence with some
of the best Anti-Slavery men in America, and I know that they have been
rendered overwhelmingly anxious by the discussion of this subject, which

■H^mHH

45

is now threatening to make us as unhappy as our friends on the other
side of the Atlantic. Our friends do not know the position we occupy in
this country, or they would not obtrude the question upon us. I do
entreat the meeting not to let any more time be lost. We cannot be
convinced on either side. Our judgments in England are not things of
straw, any more than those of our American friends. I give them credit
for the manliness with which they have asserted that, which they regard to
be a great principle ; but having asserted it as Christian men, let us be con-
tent to proceed to a division, and then determine, in the spirit of Christians,
to abide by that decision.

The CHAIKMAN.— As the hour is so late, I will now call upon Mr
Phillips to reply.

Mr. PHILLIPS.— I will not enter on" a reply. I have only one word to
say, and that is to correct misrepresentations. The first respects what was
stated by a gentleman on my right, (Mr. Pkescod), that the women did not
expect their seats when they came here. I deny it. They may have said that
they did not expect to be in a majority if it went to a division. Secondly,
he states they came here with liberty left to them of presenting their
credentials or not. "We should have come before the Convention with a lie in
our mouths, we should have detained this meeting under the most false pre-
tences, and have practised the grossest deception upon it, in making the state-
ments we have done, had we been entrusted with this liberty of choice. The
only women who have presented credentials are those from the State of Mas-
sachusetts, and there was no such liberty left to them. He has exaggerated
what transpired, and confounded different cases. With respect to the obser-
vations made by Mr. Birney, I think it is my duty to advert to one of them.
He has stated that the woman question has rent the Massachusetts Society
asunder. That is not true. I attribute no want of truth to Mr. Bihnjsy ;
we know each other too well for him to suspect that I should make such an
assertion. He has misapprehended the state of the matter. It was political
action which divided us, and not the introduction of the woman's question.*
Mr. Bibney has also stated that most of the advocates of the woman's ques-
tion are friends of the no-human government system. I might go over a
long list, and show that the majority of those who have permitted me to
stand up here are not favourable to the no-human government system. The
defenders of that scheme are but a small portion of our body ; but, thank
God, the friends of woman on the platform of abolitionism are the majo-
rity. I throw back the imputation, that the main body on the woman
question are the no-human government men. I rose to correct mistakes,
and have done it.

The Chaieman then submitted Mr. Stacey's amendment, which was
put and carried by an overwhelming majority.

The Rev. J. H. JOHNSON.— I hope we shall now all proceed unitedly with
heart and hand.

* Mr. Phillips has since expressed a desire that an acknowledgment should
be made on his beh alf that he was in error here. The alleged causes of the
division in America have been the introduction of women into the meetings,
and differences about resolutions on political action.

Mr. G. THOMPSON.— I hope that as the question is now decided it will
never be again bronght forward ; and I trust thai? Mr. Phillips will give
us the assurance that we shall proceed with one heart and one mind.

Mr. PHILLIPS.— I have no doubt of it. There is no unpleasant feeling
in our minds. I have no doubt that the women will sit with as much interest
behind the bar as though the original proposition had been carried in the affir-
mative. All we asked was au expression of opinion, and having obtained it,
we shall now act with the utmost cordiality.

PROFESSOR ADAM.— I shall co-operate with the gentlemen now around
me with the same zeal and earnestness as I should have done if this question
had never been started.

Mr. Joseph Stubce moved, and Mr. Bennet seconded, that the
Convention adjourn until ten o'clock to-morrow morning, which was
put and agreed to.

SECOND DAY'S SITTINGS, SATURDAY, JUNE 13, 1840.

(MORNING.)

JOSEPH STURGE, Esq. in the Chair.

The CHAIRMAN rose and said,

Before commencing the business of the day, I am anxious to offer a remark
or two on the somewhat irregular way in which the meeting was opened yes-
terday morning. It was the desire of the Committee to save our venerable
friend, Thomas Clarkson, as much as possible from excitement : and they
arranged that he should be voted into the Chair before he entered the room,
I did not know that this had not been done, when I accompanied him to the
platform, yesterday ; but the question was not regularly put to the meeting,
though no doubt could exist that it would have been unanimously carried.
As one or two of our friends who have been elected office-bearers, arrived only
on the preceding evening, they could scarcely be thoroughly cognizant of the
arrangements for preserving order in conducting the business ; and should
any other little irregularity in the proceedings of yesterday have occurred, I
hope this will be accepted as an apology. In future, it will be necessary to act
in strict accordance with the prescribed rales, as by so doing much valuable
time will be saved. I trust, we shall go on in that spirit of love, unanimity,
and Christian charity, which especially marked the early proceedings' of yes-
terday. I am glad that our friends who were in the minority last evening, are
now not only present, but, I believe, anxious, cordially and sincerely, with the
best and kindest feelings, to unite in all the proceedings, and to further the
great objects, of this Convention.

M. Isambert, the secretary to the French Anti-Slavery Society,
and a member of the Chamber of Deputies, in whose honour medals
have been struck by the coloured inhabitants of the French colonies, and
M. Latjre, also a distinguished member of the French Society, were

mmmmmm

introduced by Messrs. J. H. Tredgold, G. TV. Alexander, TV. T.
Blair, and D. Turnbull.

The CHAIRMAN. — I hope I shall not be violating the scruples of any one,
if I request, that we sit a minute or two in devotional silence, before the
business proceeds.

It was afterwards anuounced, that it was the intention of those who
wished to join in devotion, before the commencement of the sittings of
the Convention, to meet in an adjoining room for that purpose, each day
at half-past nine o'clock.

The minutes of the sitting of Friday were then read and confirmed.

The Rev. Benjamin Godiwn, (of Oxford,) on the call of the Chair-
man, read the following paper : —

ON THE ESSENTIAL SINFULNESS OF SLAVERY AND ITS DIRECT OPPOSITION
TO THE PRECEPTS AND SPIRIT OF CHRISTIANITY.

I am aware that the number and importance of the topics which will
be brought under the consideratoin of this meeting, render an economy
of time necessary. The paper, which I have been requested to draw up
and read, is on a subject of great and vital interest, which spreads out a
wide field of discussion, but which it has been my endeavour to present
in a condensed form, and within narrow limits.

There arc many views which may be taken of the evils of slavery
by the philanthropist and the politician ; but there is one aspect under
which it presents itself to the mind of the Christian, which is especially
adapted to awaken his feelings and to stimulate his efforts, — that is,
its sinfulness. It will be the object of this paper to show that its
moral delinquency is not an accident or a circumstance, but that it is
inherent in tbe system, and belongs to its very nature ; that it is not
the abuse of slavery merely, but the very existence of it that is wrong ;
and that consequently, there is only one way of dealing with it, and
that is, not to correct and amend, but to exterminate it altogether.

Slavery, as it has prevailed in the world, aud as it still prevails, appears
with many modifications ; it is not my design to apportion witb nice
discrimination the exact amount of guilt to every shade of distinction :
the proposition I mean to affirm is, that slavery, so far as it is slavery,
is sinful. By slavery, I mean the coerced service of the perpetual bonds-
man, exacted and enforced without any alleged crime, for the sole benefit
of the owner, who exercises over him an irresponsible pozcer, and claims

in him the right of property. And while our remarks will apply to
slavery in general, they will have an especial reference to that type of
slavery which prevails in America, and in the colonies of Europe.

Without going into detail, it is necessary to give a brief sketch of
the system which we pronounce as sinful.

One essential feature of the slave system, and that from which all its
mischiefs spring, is the right of property in man claimed and enforced.
Hence originated the term " owner," a term not designating the relation
of child, or servant, or captive, or prisoner ; but the relation of property
to a possessor. It is the relation which a man bears to his house, his
furniture, his farm, and the cattle that work and stock it. The title
to the slave is acquired like that of other property, by purchase, by
gift, by inheritance, or by will ; and it is transferred in the same way.
So that the limbs, the strength, the powers of the slave's mind and
body are his owner's property ; the husband has no claim on the en-
slaved wife ; he can perform no duties, yield no protection, but such as
the owner allows. The duties and obligations of parents and children
are absorbed in the claims of the owner — are in fact annihilated by this
relation. As with the brute animals possessed by man, the offspring
of the female belongs to the owner, whoever be the father, and whether
he be bond or free. And this right of property set up and claimed is
perpetual. The flock of sheep and the gang of slaves, with their
descendants, are the owner's, not for a term of years or a number of
lives, but for ever.

This claim of property produces another pondition in this state,
which also prominently marks it, that is, coerced and unremunerated
service. There is here no contract made ; the labourer has no power of
choice. The slave-master does not ask, nor reason, nor persuade; he
compels. The slave can no more consult his own interest than a sheep
can choose its own pasture, or a horse its own master. And however
laborious or valuable the service rendered, it is not on the principle of
remuneration. It is not an exchange of commodities for the benefit of
both ; it is not an equivalent given and taken. Food and clothing,
and lodging are not given to remunerate the slave, but to benefit the
master. The slave is no more remunerated by these than the ox is
remunerated by his fodder, or the hound by his kennel.

The exercise of irresponsible power springs also from the claim of
property, and is a feature of the slave system. All tliiuk they have
a right to do what they will with their own. This is the very spirit

49
of slavery, this is its congenial element. To call a slave-owner to
account for the manner in which he treats his slave, is felt to bean
encroachment on his rights, and is generally resisted as such- as if a
person should dictate to another how many miIcs he should 'ride his
horse how often he should use the whip or spur, or in what way he
Jould punish his dog. The force of conscience, a sense of shame, the
strength of public opinion, may have placed, in various degrees, some
checks on this power; laws may have been passed for the prevention
of cruelty to slaves just as enactments for the prevention of cruelty to
animals, but in most cases these checks have proved, and must neces-
sarily prove, ineffectual. Whenever man is held as legal property an
immense power over the happiness of the slave must be possessed, of
which the law can take no cognizance, over which it can exercise no
control In our own foreign dependencies, while slavery was in its

cv rfnfl Td 6W r UndS ' 01 ' ' Sh ° rt im P ri — *• »d ^ e carcely
cv inflicted, were the penalties for the wilful murder of a slave. And
when the secrets of this prison house were revealed to the British public

m£Zt ldU T^ WaS CV6ry m ° Vement t0 P ]ace ^itional respond
sibihty on the master's power, and with what vehemence and pcrtina-
ty we all the proceedings of the British Parliament opposed, when
it stretched out its hand to limit this ten-ible power.
This, then, is the system which we condemn as sinful
buch a condition of society must be attended with great and serious
evils; avast amount of physical suffering must necessarily floCf on
it Such power cannot be exercised over his fellow-creatures bv man

SSL" e 1S 1° an the eviI passions of h ™ -«* ^ 2

rrthtfT ♦Tl miSery ' And faCtS P1 '° Ve that SUffcrin & t0 » **7
frightful extent, has ever attended .slavery. But independent of the

amount of physical suffering, the injuries inflicted are un^eaJbfe; and

the wrong done, the injustice committed, is flagrant

For, first, it decades a slave from the condition of a man it rtw

nmo ff theeommonlevelofh lUn anity. It does J 1Z him to^

iaws. And tins dreadful penalty is inflicted for no crime charged on

victim of the same injustice before him.

It robs him also of the riahtt nf mnn „n x r ,,

<jj wm, iiynis oj man, at least of the nossessinn -mrl

* e ?*« ^ ^ich God and nature had givTZ S
nght to his liberty, to the produce of his own industry! to the g JZ

50
ment and obedience of his own ehildren, to the exereise of his reason
and ehoiee in seeking his own happiness ;_righte, to invade winch is a
kind of saerilege-are all saerifieed. Thus the slave is plundered of the
rights whieh God has given to every man, or holds them only by
sufferanee, and in sueh pittanee as his owner may dole out to him.

This wicked system also, as far as it ean be done, deprives the slave
of the attributes of a man. He has no free and independent action. He
must have no will but that of his owner. He must neither aet from
ehoiee, nor from eonscienee. He ean neither rest, nor labour recreate
his body, nor cultivate his mind, nor join in the worship of Ins God,
but at the will and under the power of another. There is a power that
stands between him and his happiness, between him and his ehildren,
between him and his wife, between him aud his God. This power may
be sometimes mildly exereised, or allowed to slumber, as a mau may
treat a favourite nag or a faithful dog, but the power is there, and if
disputed or denied, would be immediately felt. Plaeed m t he position
of an animal kept for work, or pride, or pleasure, he is debarred the
highest exereises of a rational and immortal creature. _ _

Now we say, that to hold our fellow-ereatures in such a eondition is
sinful. It is a violation of the law of nature, of the law of God. It is
contrary to all religion, natural and revealed.

For 1st It is a violation of the immutable principles of Equity and
justice. All the great principles of justiee, and of moral obligation are
eternal uuehangeable, and universal. No custom, however general, no
usage, however ancient, can alter them; no legislation ean supersede
them, no enaetments ean change them- Right is still right, and wrong
is still wrong, whatever men may say or do. That mnoeence should
not be punished, that no rational creature should invade the rights .of
another, are propositions as invariably and universally true, as that the
whole is equal to all its parts, aud that the three angles of every triangle
are equal to two right angles. As slavery is punishment without
erime as it is withholding from another his due, as it is inflicting on
another a most serious injury, it is essentially, ineurably wrong ; a
violation of the prineiples of justiee whieh nothing ean make right.
Every slave in the world has a right to be free; a right whieh all the
tyranny on earth can neither destroy nor nullify. Of the enjoyment of
this right he may be deprived, but the claim eannot be extinguished :
and the withholding of this right is the perpetuation of a wrong. _
But, 2nd, If we try it by the test of revealed religion, toe must with.

m

equal emphasis pronounce it sinful. Sin is defined in the saered writ-
ings, as " a transgression of the law;" and the fundamental principles of
this law are violated by slavery. One great objeet in the revealed will
■ of God, is to bring out elearly and to establish fully, by the most solemn
sanetions and in the most impressive manner, those great and immutable
prineiples of truth and justiee by whieh the administration of His moral
government is regulated, and on whieh it is founded. These prineiples
of moral reetitude affect man in his twofold relation, to God and to his
fellow-ereatures; and all the duties in detail whieh spring from them,
are redueed by our divine Teacher to these two comprehensive preeepts :
" Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with all thy heart"— and, " thy
neighbour as thyself." « On these two commandments hang aU tbe law
and the prophets." Now to reduee a fellow.creature to a state of slavery,
or to hold him in this state ; to exereise sueh power over him, and to
elaim sueh right of property in him, is ineompatible with this love to
God, and to our fellow-creatures.

For, 1st, How ean it be compatible with the unbounded and reve-
rential love we owe to the Great Creator, to misuse and maltreat his
creatures; to deprive them of the rights whieh He has given them,
without any express warrant from Him ? There is something saered
about man— he is God's ereature, stamped with his image, and endowed
with his immortality; and to deprive sueh a being of the rights of
humanity, to reduee him as far as possible to the level of the brute
ereation, and thus to stunt his intellectual growth, obstruct his soeial
sympathies, depress his lofty aspirations, and stand between him and
the very end of his being, is not only to insult our Maker by wronging
his ereatures, but is to invade his prerogative, by the assumption of
dominion and authority whieh belong to Him alone.

And in the next plaee, ean slavery be reeoneileablc with such love to
man as the divine law requires, is it eompatible with the duties of the
second table ? Can that law whieh forbids not only stealing, but even
eoveting or desiring what belongs to another, tolerate man in depriviug
his fellow-creature of his liberty, of the fruits of his own industry, and
of all that is dear to him for purposes of selfish aggrandizement ? Slavery
is essentially unjust; therefore slavery is essentially sinful. It wrongs,
it insults, at -onee, both God and man.

_ The prescribed brevity of this paper forbids the discission of objec-
tions to the conclusion we have drawn. But unless the premises ean
e 2

52

be disproved, no difficulties with which ingenuity may perplex the ques-
tion can invalidate it. So far as slavery is what we have described it
to be, it cannot but be unjust— that is, it must be sinful.

If it should be pleaded that slavery was tolerated by God among the
ancient Israelites, and therefore is not in its own nature sinful, it might
be replied, first, that neither the bond service of the Israelites which
was voluntary, nor that which was a punishment inflicted, nor any
form of service which was temporary, comes within our definition ;
and secondly, that for reducing the nations of Canaan to slavery, and
for putting them to the sword, they had a special warrant from the
Judge of the whole earth, as the executioners of his justice. And no
people can ever be placed in such circumstances as the Jews were.

It is not denied, also, that slavery existed throughout the Eoman
empire as a recognised civil institution, when Christianity was first
promulgated ; that there is no express precept to bind believing masters
to release their slaves; that the slaves are not directed to claim their
freedom, but for the gospel's sake, to obey. There are, however, reasons
in the circumstances in which the first preachers of Christianity were
placed, to account for these things, but no reasons can be assigned why
Christianity should lend its sanction to what is in itself unjust, or why
it should be indifferent to an evil at which humanity is shocked. So
diametrically opposite to slavery is Christianity in its whole scope and
tendency, that it would require very distinct statement, very strong
evidence, to prove its patronage of any thing so cruelly wrong; and if
such proof could be produced, it would present Christianity so strangely
at variance with itself, as to weaken its own evidence of a divine origin.
How can Christianity be otherwise than opposed to slavery since it pro-
ceeds from Him, whose throne is founded in righteousness, whose name
is "just and holy," and whose strongest denunciations and severest
thrcatenings are against pride, and wrong, and oppression? It could
not, therefore, be for a moment supposed that a system originating with
God, and introduced, not merely by eminent prophets, but by his Son,
who came to take away sin and destroy the works of the devil, could be
otherwise than opposed to every form of injustice, to every species of
wrong.

And what is Christianity itself but an emanation of divine benevo-
lence, a concentration of all the divine purposes of mercy to man, an
emphatic announcement that « God is love," that " glory to God in the

highest," is by the advent of the Saviour combined with "peace on
earth and good will toward men!" How, therefore, could it be supposed
that such a system could coalesce with the spirit of slavery; the very
tendency of which is to wound, and depress, and mortify, and to injure
man in his relations both to time and eternity ?

How are the views which Christianity gives us of man to be reconciled
with the practice of holding a fellow-creature in perpetual bondage, aud
claiming property in him as our goods aud chattels ? Every man in the
sight of God is placed on an equality : he "hath made of one blood all
nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth." All stand related
to Him as the Creator, the Benefactor, the Parent of the human family.
No man can claim an exemption from the consequences of the fall, the
plan of divine mercy looks with equal benignity on all; all must
die, all must stand before His judgment-seat, with whom " there is
no respect of persons." How can, then, we ask,-kow can such views
be reconciled with the practice of claiming man as property, and
exercising over a fellow-creature the rights, or rather the wrongs, of a
slave-owner ?

The precepts of Christianity exhibit a high and pure morality, often
entering into duties in detail, but more particularly distinguished for
the principles which it inculcates, aud which lead to " whatsoever things
are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, what-
soever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report." Does
not Christianity perpetually insist on the duties of justice between man
and man ? It neither abolishes nor relaxes any of its essential and
immutable principles; but insists on their universal obligation, "Do
we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we
establish the law." It shows also that the divine law in all its precepts,
extends not merely to overt acts, but to " the thoughts and intents of
the heart." And on the principle on which our divine Teacher explains
the law, any wish or intention to possess what is another's, or to
encroach on his rights, or to do what would injure him or diminish his
happiness, is sinful. And can a man hold a slave without infringing
on his rights, and doing him an actual injury? No man living m
the practice of injustice can expect to share the blessings of Chris-
tianity—" the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God ;" its
language is, render to all their- dues— and to give us a clear rule of
conduct to others, it enjoins the preecpt, " whatsoever ye

duty

54

would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them." Can the
man walk hy this rule who makes a slave, or holds a slave ?

That it is wrong to return evil for good is a principle in morals which
all will readily admit ; hut Christianity goes much farther than this,
and prohihits the return of evil for evil,— nay more, it charges us to
return good for evil : " If thine enemy hunger, feed him ; if he thirst,
give him drink:" " hless them that curse you," "and pray for them
which despitefully use you, and persecute you." Apply these prin-
ciples to slavery. To the poor suffering slave they forhid revenge and
retaliation, and cheer him in patient submission to evils which he
cannot remove j hut if the slave-owner acts upon them he must at
once " undo the heavy burdens," and " let the oppressed go free."

How assiduously does Christianity inculcate the kindest charities of
human nature. Our sympathies are ever to he alive. "VVe are "to
weep with them that weep," as well as '* rejoice with them that do
rejoice." Our love is to he measured hy the love which God bears to us,
for, " if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another." And
if any man love " not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love
God whom he hath not seen." Now "loveworketh no ill to his
neighbour." Let this love on the part of the slave-owner, « be not in
word only, but in deed and in truth," and the fetters of every slave he
possesses will be instantly struck off.

Look, in a word, at the pervading spirit and genius of the gospel of
Christ, at its divinely gracious intentions and objects. Look at the
benign aspect which Christianity wears to all, — contemplate the bound-
less generosity, and love, and grace of him, " who though he was rich,
yet for our sakes he became poor, that we through his poverty might
be rich." Then place by its side the genius of slavery. Can any two
things he more opposite ? The one is an angel of light, the other a fiend
of darkness ; and while you thus view them, we ask, "what fellowship
hath righteousness with unrighteousness ? and what communion hath
light with darkness ? and what concord hath Christ with Belial ?"

The spirit of Christianity is to diffuse happiness to the widest pos-
sible extent, and to the greatest possible degree ; the spirit of slavery is
to diminish the means of happiness, and to open new sources of misery.
The spirit of Christianity is to confer benefits eveu on the unworthy :
the spirit of slavery is to inflict injuries even on the innocent. The
spirit of Christianity is to remove from the world every form and

55

degree of evil, and to eoutinue its uneeasing efforts till humanity is
relieved of all the miseries under whieh it groans ; the spirit of slavery
forbids all encroachment on its dark domains, and declares that " the
prey" shall not " be taken from the mighty," nor " the lawful eaptive
delivered.'" The spirit of Christianity is to elevate, and expand,, and
ennoble- our nature : the spirit of slavery is to contraet, and to depress,
and to brutify all that is human.

There are two facts which strikingly show the opposition of these
systems in their genius and iufluenee. The one is, that as Christianity
prevailed, it abolished the long-continued and widely spread slavery of
Greece and Rome : and the other is, that wherever slavery prevails, it
views with extreme jealousy the efforts of Christian missionaries, and
greatly obstructs them. I need only refer to what transpired in Deme-
rara, in Barbadoes, and more recently still in Jamaica. The labours of
those devoted men, who sought to impart religious instruction to the
slaves, without mentioning a word about their eondition, exeept in exhor-
tations to patient obedienee, were suspeeted, frowned on, and diseouraged;
till at length slavery, indignant and alarmed, proelaimed open battle with
Christianity, and fell in the struggle.

The eonclusions to which we arrive, then, are these : —

1. That to make or hold a man a slave, is an offenee against
God, and a grievous wrong to man, and should be viewed and dealt
with as a sin.

2. That, therefore, all who fear God and regard man, should purge
themselves from this aecursed thing, and " toueh not ; taste not ;
handle not."

3. That this is the ground on whieh the battle for universal emanci-
pation must be fought.

4. And that on this ground all who love God and man should rally
for a determined, eombined, and persevering effort, assured that greater
is He that is for us, than all that ean be against us.

At the elose of the reading of this paper the President entered the
room, and assumed the ehair.

Rev. C. STOVEL. — I was greatly pleased with the character of the
paper that has just been read, and I felt anxious that something practical
might be devised ; or, that measures might be adopted to devise something
practical, upon that religions view of the whole question before us, to which
the Essay relates. I had drawn up two or three resolutions, which I shall not
now submit to you to discuss, but which I rise to move may be referred with

56

the Essay to a committee, and brought forward afterwards in a practical form,
for the purpose of constituting a recommendation to he issued from this body
to all Christian denominations, to make the matter of slavery one of church
discipline. I feel that neither will the church do justice to itself, nor assume
its true weight and character in the world, until it has taken a decisive and a
Christian gronnd on this great matter. I do not understand wherein consists
the duty of preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, unless it be in adapting and
applyiug its several truths and principles to the errors which prevail at the
time in which we live, to their correction, and to the deliverauce, first, of the
persons entangled in those errors and vices, from their guilt ; and, secondly,
of all such as suffer through them, from their injuries. If it be your opinion,
then, my Christian brethren of every name, that slavery is a curse, it must be
a matter of iuterest to you that those who are cursed by it may be delivered
from their calamity ; and if it be in your judgment a guilty thing, you cannot,
as friends of the gospel of Christ, be relieved from your responsibility, until
you have taken such ground as the gospel tells you to take in reference to all
such as are implicated in this vice.

Mr. Stovel concluded by reading the outline of a scheme for a series
of resolutions which he had prepared, and moved —

That the paper read by the Eev. B. Godwin he referred to a Sub-
committee, consisting of the Revs. N. Colveb, W. Knibb, B. Godwin,
J. A. James, and Mr. G. Thompson, with instructions to prepare
resolutions thereon, of which it is recommended that a paper read by
the Rev. C. Stovel form the basis.

Rev. J. H. Johnson seconded the resolution.

Bev. N. COLVEB,.— I would inquire whether the subject now before the
meeting is to be laid aside, and to be called up and discussed when the paper
is presented ; or whether the discussion is to go on now ?

Bev. C. STOVEL. — I have no objection to the discussion going on now, but
perhaps it may be better when the paper is prepared.

Bev. E. GALXJSHA.— I would beg leave to suggest that so much truth
aud light may be elicited from the discussion, that the Committee will be
better prepared afterwards to embody the views of the Convention, than if
they were ignorant of the particular arguments which may come before them.
Bev. JOHN YOUNG.— I shall only detain the meeting a very few
moments. It is evident that the feeling and conviction of the meeting are
with the resolutions which have beeu moved by Mr. Stovel. I perfectly
agree with the first portion of these resolutions, and with all that has been
said in reference to the paper which has been read ; but I totally disagree
with the principle involved in the resolutions ; and I could not conscientiously
and honestly refrain from expressing my opinion to this effect. We are a
Conveution from various deuominatious of Christians ; members of the
Society of Friends, Episcopalians, Roman Catholics, Presbyterians, Baptists,
Independents, and Methodists. Had the resolutions been proposed to a
Baptist union, or an Independent uuion, or a Presbyterian synod, or an Epis-
copalian couvocation, theu, indeed, had it been my lot to be a member of
any of those bodies, I should have concurred in these resolutions, but I totally

57

dissent from the principle that this Convention should take any part in matters
of church discipline. There arc churches to which these resolutions cannot
apply at all. I may he excused for referring to the Roman Catholic Church,
and the Episcopalian hody, in which the exercise of the discipline belongs not
to the parties whom you address. I think all the good which we design or
desire will he accomplished by a strong expression of our sentiments on the
general subject, without pronouncing that churches ought to exercise discipline
and exclude certain parties from their communion. It appears to me, that
when we have strongly uttered our sense of the sinfulness of slavery, and the
perfect inconsistency of any man professing the Christiau religion, being either
a slave-owner or in any way identified with slavery, we have done all which
it is competent for us to do. There are some of the minuter details to which
also I should demur ; but the principle of the whole I decidedly object to, and
I move as an amendment —

"That all the words from the word ' thereon' be omitted."
Rev. William James (of Bridgewater), seconded the amend-
ment.

Rev. H. TAYLOR, (of Woodbridge).— I have attended almost all the meet-
ings of delegates since the question of slavery has attracted the attention of
the British public, and I confess that, as a Protestant Disseuting Minister, I
have never heard a set of resolutions announced at any meeting which I more
cordially and fully approve, than those which have been read by Mr. Stovel.
I do trust, by the integrity of our faith, as Christian men— by the intensity of
our desire, to see this abomination of slavery wiped away from the face of the
earth, that we shall pass the resolutions which have been moved. I contend
that we do not interfere in church discipline iu adopting the resolutions moved
by Mr. Stovel. If you were to attempt to enforce any resolution enacting
laws for a church, or in the name of a church, I would be the first to contend
to the death against it ;. but we do not. Wc are assembled here, a Convention
for the world, to put down slavery, by the blessing of God. We only propose,
in our collective capacity, to recommend all Christian men who are associated
together in any form as Christian men, to make it a matter of grave considera-
tion with themselves, whether slave-owners or legislators for slavery, or the
protectors and abettors of slave-owners, should sit with them as Christians
holding the truth in Jesus Christ. That is all that is proposed to this
meeting, that is the whole ; and I have seldom been more astonished, I might
say, more grieved, than when I heard a well-known and highly-approved
minister of Christ request that those resolutions should be withdrawn. I hold
these resolutions to be among the strongest and best practical measures I have
ever met with on the question. For years I have come up to London, and
attended meetings of delegates day and night, and I protest to you my soundest
conviction is, that I never yet met with a practical matter brought forward
so well adapted as this. I have never heard anything suggested to be done,
(aud let us bear in mind that we come here to do), that appeared to me more
likely to prove effectual. I trust, therefore, that we shall send forth this
recommendation with all the weight that our gravest aud our unanimous
approbation can attach to it.

Mr. O'CONNELL.— I really think that we are agreed in principle, if
wc understood one another ; and that there is no difference between the

58

respected gentlemen who moved and seconded this amendment, and the
majority, if not the entire, of this assembly. We are agreed, first, that uothiug
can be more complicated in its sinfulness than slavery. It is the violation of-
all private morals, it is robbery, by taking away from the man the
right to the reward of his own work. It is multiplied murder in all its details ;
and as it is of the most enormous sinfulness, there is not a Christian man
among us that must not abhor it from the bottom of his heart, according to
the sincerity with which he worships his God. That being so, we have next
to consider what our purpose is in coming here. It is not to attempt to
interfere with the discipline of any of the churches to which we belong. For
my part, I would not presume to vote on a question respecting the church to
which these gentlemen belong. I do not belong to them, and would not
presume to interfere with their discipline. Liberality does not consist in a
man's giving up a portiou of what he himself believes ; that is not liberality,
but latitudinarianism, which I do not, for one, approve of, or relish. Liberality
consists in giving to others that which we claim for ourselves : namely, the
entire, independent exercise of our judgments and our conscience before God,
and the discipline and doctrine of the church to which we belong. We
cannot, therefore, dictate discipline to each other, but cannot we recommend
it 1 We are here to recommend, and cannot we recommend it to every
church 2 You do not belong to the church to which I belong, I do not belong
to the church to which yon belong, but will it be the worse for this or that
church, that it has the sanction of an humble individual, zealous for the same
things which you are zealous for? I am sure there is nobody in my church
that would not be glad to get the recommendation of such an assembly as
this, to carry out, what the highest authority in that church has lately recom-
mended so emphatically and strongly to all Christians joining in communion
with him ; and who has put on record one of the most eloquent and urgent
recommendations respecting the utter sinfulness of slavery, and the necessity
of adopting measures in that church to have it abolished completely, and
calling on the clergy to act upon it. Many of them have already done so,
and the rest of them will. Well, then, as far as recommendation may we
not go ? Further we ought not. But in letting the question go to the com-
mittee, we shall see whether they can form a resolution, leaving the conscience
of every individual perfectly free ; but allowing all as fellow-creatures and
men interested in the cause of humanity, to recommend to each other, to vie
one with another in doing good. Different churches have had rivalry hereto-
fore, setting one above the other ; it is natural, perhaps not wrong, but let us
vie with each other in proclaiming the sinfulness and abominations of slavery,
and in promoting that cause that will banish from humanity the horrible crime
of making man a property, and which makes the woman weep that she has
given birth to a man-child. I think upon this point we must be agreed. I
perceive that the respected gentleman, who very properly followed his owu
conscientious feelings, agrees in letting it go to a committee ; then let it go
without further discussion. We are not bound by any thing the committee
does, until the resolutions come before us ; when they do seriatim, we will
consider them, each respecting the religious scruples and opinions of the
other, all of us concurring in the great duty of humanity, to break the fetters
of the slave, and to terminate the dreadful sinfulness of this system.

WILLIAM BALL, Esq.— I thought before the last gentleman rose, and I
still think, that the meeting requires to be set right in one point. I appre-

liend that the very words Cham.es Stovel uses are, " recommend to
consider ;" aud as this question has been mooted, I wish to warn this
assembly, (the most interesting that perhaps ever assembled in relation
to this cause), how they repudiate the principle which the resolution goes
to support.

Rev. E. GALUSHA.— One word in behalf of America. However distinctly
yon may avow your sentiments, in relation to the moral character and
tendency of slavery, it will have little effeet on the American churches,
unless you definitely express an opinion as to the application of those
principles to the discipline of the churches ; for the doctrine of abstraction
will be the subterfuge to which they will immediately fly. They will say,
This Convention, it is true, believes slavery to be sinful, and so do we in
the abstract ; but you see they very carefully guard against an intermed-
dling with these subjects in churches. The circumstances are so peculiar,
the laws are of such a character and teudency, and the complicated diffi-
culties that gather around American slavery are such, as render it totally
impracticable and inexpedient to exercise discipline in relation to it. If
yon wish to do them good, put your finger not only ou the principle, but
on the very point where you would apply it, to render it effectual in destroying
this monster, and the protection that is given him in the churches of America
and of the world.

Rev. W. KNIBB. — So intensely do I feel in the discussion of this ques-
tion, so firmly convinced am I of its utility, that I most earnestly entreat
all the ministers of Jesus Christ by whom I am surrouuded, to give it
their careful attention. It was my misfortuue, when I first left England,
to be trammelled with instructions, as all missionaries are, but I burut
them ; and as soon as I had made up my mind that slavery was iucon-
sistcnt with Christiauity, I at once came to the conclusion that it was
inconsisteut with the gospel terms of church-fellowship. I spoke to the
persons who were slave-holders in the church, and they assured me, that
if I had only spoken earlier, they would earlier have relinquished their
practice. I am happy to say, that they at once did so ; and the church
was free from the stain. They are now as fully conviuced as our Anti-
Slavery friends in America are, that if wc can but obtain from the pastors
of Christian churches a distinct recognition that the slave-owner has no
right to commuuion in a Christian church, that slavery in twelve months,
or little more, will fall in America. If this proposition is uot carried, I
shall retire from this Convention with feelings of the deepest pain ; if it
is carried I shall feel that I have had a great honour, not merely in being
preseut, but that I am most fully recompensed for leaving, for a time, the
island of Jamaica to attend it. I do hope that no fear, lest the independence
of the church should be touched, will keep us away from the grand point, that
slavery is a sin ; aud can we consider that man who participates in it to be a
fit subject for church-fellowship 1

Rev. H. GREW. — I am constrained by the importance of this subject to
offer a word or two upon it. I do uot advocate any dictation to the
churches. I perfectly agree with my friends on that point ; but the simple
recommendation of this important matter to the churches throughout the
length and breadth of the land, commends itself to my understanding and to
my conscience. The holding within Christian churches of those who malce
merchandize of the souls of men, who rob man of all his rights, is the main

pillar in our land, if not in yours, of the whole system of this abominatiou.
When wc plead there the cause of oppressed humanity, we are pointed to the
church as a sufficient refutation of all our arguments, and of all our appeals
to the undcrstau dings and to the hearts of our fellow-men ; and we despair,
notwithstanding all our arguments, and all our efforts, we despair of the
consummation of the desire of our hearts, in seeing the last fetter broken
while the church of Jesus Christ practically sanctions this evil, and (awful
thought) ! practically declares that the great head of the church is a slave-
holder. I will not trespass on the time of this meeting any further than to
express my earnest desire that we may proceed with the recommendation, aud
send it forth throughout all the world.

JAMES FRANCILLON, Esq., (of Gloucester).— I am by temper and habit
a listener rather than a speaker, nor would you have heard my voice on this
occasion, were it not that besides urging you by all means to adopt these reso-
lutions, I think I am able to remind you of a fact in the history of this country
and of Europe which is a precedent in this matter, and which, perhaps, will
induce you to believe that a measure of this sort will be really and truly
effectual. We are accustomed to confine our attention in these meetings to
the horrid system of slavery with which we are acquainted by the relations of
travellers, and the reports of those who have resided in the West Indies while
slavery existed there ; but I was pleased to hear in the religious discourse
with which this meeting was opened, an allusion to the slavery of ancieut
Rome, and to the slavery of ancient states in various parts of the world ; states
which called themselves "free," which asserted their freedom, and yet were
possessors and oppressors of domestic slaves ; like some modern states, which
call themselves free, and have fought for, and won, their freedom, yet, never-
theless, have disgraced it in the way of which I am speaking. When I heard the
gentleman in his mention of them say, that in the prevalence of Christianity
the slavery of ancient Rome has disappeared from the face of the world, (of
course he was speaking of the domestic state of ancient Rome), theu I thought
also of that which within these 400 years was part and parcel of the law of
this country, and which is now an uurepealed law, except by the feelings,
habits, practice, and the usage of the people, but still unrepealed by the voice
of the legislature, — I mean the existence of villainage or boudage on the part
of the landed proprietor. It was by the prevalence of Christianity, and by the
exertions of the clergy of the two churches, which have oue after the other
been established in this country, by the exertions of the clergy of the church
of Rome particularly, I believe, that villainage disappeared. Legal historians
will tell yon that it was the practice and habit of the church at that time not
to excommunicate, because, perhaps, the laws of the church would not justify
them ; but in their intercourse with their flocks, which confession gave them,
to direct restitution for wrong, and by recommendations with regard to
penance, there was an influence exerted by the clergy on the feelings of the
people, and one after another villains were emancipated, and severed from
the state to which they belonged. They became, in many instances, small
landed proprietors. I may advert to the circumstance, that, to the action,
of the clergy on Christian priuciples and motives, are we, in all probability,
indebted in a great measure for the disappearance of slavery from this free
land. I feel that I have said more than was necessary for the purpose of
bringing forward the historical fact to which I have adverted ; if, however,
any argument can be built on it, I shall consider that I have not done wrong

61

in alluding to it. I have only one other point to touch upon, The resolution
read by the gentleman who proposed the reference to the committee, contained
some phrases which seemed to me to involve matters of very high principle ;
and I want, therefore, to ask, for the information of the committee the mean-
ing of one phrase which dropped from his lips, involving, according to my
notion, some of the most important features of the subject. With the utmost
possible respect, I would ask the gentleman what was the meaning of the
words, when he proposed that the church should deal harshly and with cen-
sure on persons who held slaves, when no merciful reason for doing so could
be suggested. Now, I should have supposed that slavery being ascertained to
be, as I believe it is, a claim to property which is altogether null and void,
which has no existence in the law, or in the will of God, and which cannot be
recognised by any person who respects the will of God, and reveres it ; I
should have thought those words, if introduced in any resolution we adopt, to
be inconsistent with the notion upon which we all act ; and I should like to
know what Christian and good man could suggest any possible merciful reason
for the assertion of a property by one man, iu the person or rights of another.
I ask this with the utmost respect, and I take the opportunity of suggesting,
that whatever resolution may emanate from the committee, or be adopted by
the Convention, we should never lose sight of the fact, that slavery regarded
as a property, as a right, has no manner of existence ; it has only existed as a
crime, a sin, an usurpation, a thing to be resisted and overturned by every mau
that has the feelings which ought to distinguish one of that race of beings
which God has endowed with the faculties, understanding, and powers that
we possess.

Rev. C. STOVEL— The reason why that phrase was introduced is this,
I wish to allow slave-holders all that can be allowed, to give them an
opportunity of stating, if they can state, a Christian and benevolent reason
for holding a slave. I think this is fair, though we wish for further informa-
tion upon it. I would appeal to our friend, Mr. Birney, whether there may
not be such a case for holding a slave, pro tern. ? Suppose a man, passing from
one state to another, while wishing to liberate his slaves to greater advan-
tage ; I would give him an opportunity of doing it, and of holding the slave
if he found it necessary. I have been told on good authority, that there were
cases in which mercy would dictate the holding of a slave for a time, that he
might be liberated to greater advantage. If such a case could be shown, I
would not excommunicate a man who had that purpose in view. I do not
stickle for the phrase. I hold slavery to be a sin, as absolutely as any man
can do.

Eev. N. COLVEK. — I know I am appointed on the committee, and therefore
I shall say nothing to commit myself with the committee. It is only on one
point that I get up at all. It is to the delicate point suggested by my friend
on my right (Mr. Youstg), of this Convention expressing an opiuion or desire
to the various churches and denominations of christians, that they should
exclude the slave-holder from church fellowship. There seemed to be a
delicacy in his mind. I myself have none upon this point. I will give a very
brief illustration of my views. A short time since there was a disturbance in
the Canadas, and a great many persons from the United States who were fond
of trouble and commotion, and interfering with other people's business, went
over there and assisted in making trouble in Canada ; and when pursued by
the British arms (for they used carnal weapons, which would soon have quieted

thcin), they fled back into the United States, and took shelter under our gO«
vemment. The British Minister on finding this to he the ease, sent to request
our government, which acted on the laws of neutrality, not to give shelter to
the disturbers of their peace. Our country readily responded to that request.
"Was there on the part of England an unjustifiable interference with our
government matters in this respect ? Not at all. Now we do not attack
slavery with carnal weapons, but with the two-edged sword of the Spirit, the
word of God. We get on the track of a slave-holder ; and he finds his shelter :
where ? in the Church of God. Now is it interfering with the manner of that
church's government, or the rights of that church, if, with very great humility
and respect we say, " Brethren wont you refuse shelter to a slave-owner ;
wont you tuna him out to our weapons ? wont you let us get at him ; wont
you withdraw your protection and put him out 1" I put it to my friend, if
this is an interference with church government ; of such an interference I
should be guilty with a neighbour under like circumstances. If a man took
shelter in my neighbour's house, and from that house sallied out to commit
depredations on the children and weak around, if the ueighbonrhood was
aroused and pursued the aggressor, and found him constantly taking shelter in
this neighbour's house so that we could not get at him ; if we should rap at
the door of that house, and say, " Sir, wont you cease to give shelter to this
aggressor on our rights %" And suppose my friend (Mr. Y.) was in there,
what would he say 2 — " This is interfering with family matters." Sir, I have
no such delicacy, and I trust when my friend looks at the simple point before
ns,his delicacy will disappear.

"WILLIAM BOULTBKE, Esq. (of Birmingham).— If it is intended that the
interference of this Convention is to be of a dictatorial nature, I shall support
the amendment. But I understood that there was a wish to urge upon the
churches a recommendation to turn this crying iniquity out of their commu-
nities. If that be so, I see no objection at all to the adoption of the origiual
motiou, for I think that will be productive of vast benefit. But whether the
original motion or the amendment be carried, I hope the discussion will be con-
tinued ; not only that according to the wish of the gentleman opposite, the
committee to be appointed should be put in possession of the opinions of the
Convention, but because I am a great frieud to order, and as I fiud that a great
many things have been brought forward at different times, and dropped and
resumed again, I think it will be better to dispose of this subject regularly.
Besides this, there are many gentlemen now present who may not be present
on auothcr occasion.

Mr. G. THOMPSON.— We are now debating in the dark ; we are utterly
unacquainted with the principle upon which Mr. Young objects to the
resolutions. I confess that I am myself unacquainted with his priuciple,
and I do not see how we can get at the truth until we are made acquainted
with it.

Rev. J. YOUNG. — I will state the principle in a very few words. First
of all allow me to say that there is no hesitation in my mind in regard
to the utter inconsistency between the support of slavery and Christianity. I
do not belong" to a church which would acknowledge among its members a
slave-dealer or a slave-holder. I do not belong to a church in which the
slave-holding interest has the smallest place, or would be tolerated for one
Therefore I quite agree with the opinion that has been uttered on
is sides of the room, that slavery is a sin, and being a sin, is inconsistent

with church fellowship. But then while such is my individual opinion on the
subject of Christian and church communion, it appears to me that this is not
the place, and we are not the body to pronounce on the terms of church coni-
muuion, and the rules of church discipline. I came here to pronounce on the
question of slavery alone. I have my own views, as other gentlemen may
have theirs, with respect to the terms of Christian fellowship, but I do not
think it belongs to us as a Conveution to pronounce upon them.

Mr. G. THOMPSON.— I wish to ask Mr. Young if he interprets the
resolutions now under discussion to imply dictation to the churches to alter
their principles of communion ; or does he understand the resolutions only to
apply to slavery as a sin to be taken cognizance of by the churches, and
treated as other sins.

Rev. J. YOUNG-.— I think the language of the resolutions goes much
farther than a simple recommeudation. "We do in these resolutions pro-
nounce our verdict as to the manner in which all churches should exercise
discipline and regulate their fellowship, and secure the purity of their commu-
nion. This is no paltry or trifling question ; it is a momentous one. It lies at
the very foundation of that harmony by which this Convention, I trust, will
continue to be characterized, and which is most likely to be best promoted by
adhering strictly to those matters which fall within our proper province. As
an individual, aud in connexion with the particular Christiau society to which
I belong, I go to the full extent of the princij)le contended for by Mr. Stovel.
But in this general Convention, made up of members of many different
communions, I think we should be travelling beyond our sphere, were we to
recommend the adoption of certain terms of fellowship by all Christian
churches.

Mr. O'CONNELL.— My opinion is, that you should not adopt any reso-
lutions now, but refer them to a committee who should investigate and inquire
into them, and consider whether they should be proposed or not, or whether
any others should be i> 1 '°P ose< l to tne Convention generally for their
adoption.

Rev. C. STOVEL.— It really is not my intention to dictate to any chnrch.
I would not submit to the dictation of any other church ; my own deno-
mination never would ; neither wonld we dictate to another church. But
I declare a principle, and I ask others to consider whether upon that principle
they ought not to judge so and so. I ask for their judgment, and I wish to
press it upon their consciences to judge honestly.

Rev. J. YOUNG-.— But in asking for their judgment you throw in your
own. Now, I say this Convention is not the party to pronounce an opinion in
that way.

Mr. BLAIR. — Though it was my intention during the sitting of the
Convention to cautiously abstain from occupying your attention, I shall
not give a silent vote on this occasion, because I consider that one of the
most important and practical measures that has ever been proposed is before
us. I have long been most desirous that such a resolution as this should be
adopted ; and in a former Convention I have taken the liberty to throw out a
suggestion similar to this, if not a recommendation* of the same kind : for I
have long been most deeply convinced that one of the main props and supports
of slavery is the countenance given to it by the Christian church. A more
effectual blow caunot be made at the atrocious, and unrighteous system thau
by recommending to Christian churches the exercise of Christian discipline in

64

the case of slave-holders and dealers ; as tliey would in the case of any other
unrighteous offender against the laws of God aud humanity. I hope, there-
fore, that in the name of God and of outraged humanity, this meetiug will
unanimously agree to the resolutions proposed.

Kev. N. COLVER.— Would it not be tetter, in order to save time, that
the resolutions should go at once to the committee ?

Mr. Joseph Stuege suggested that the resolutions should be read at
length, which was done.

Dr. GREVILLE I should uot have risen, if I had not understood that

the discussion should proceed, in order that the committee might be led
into a knowledge of the general feeliugs of the Convention on this sub-
ject. I am decidedly of opinion, that every Christian church ought to
exercise discipline in such a case as that which has been adverted to. The
question is, whether we can make the language of the resolutions such as to
induce us to adopt them unanimously. It appears, that the only difficulty lies
in the Convention using language which would be thought dictatorial to the
churches. I think that we may use language which, without the slightest
compromise of principle, and without at all interfering with the discipline of
the churches, would convey all that the reverend gentleman would convey.
"We may declare slavery to be inconsistent with Christianity, and we may
communicate that resolution to others. If you please, yon may enter into
considerable detail, and recommend your opinions to the consideration of all
Christian churches as churches ; you may word your resolution in such a
way as to make it impossible for auy one to take it in any other sense, thau
as a subject of church discipline ; aud yet you may avoid using the terms
" excommunication " and " church discipline." If this can he done, it ought
to be done. We must not wound the feelings of Christian brethren ; at the
same time, we must not compromise principle. Thus yon will gain what you
wish. I think it is because the Christian church has not done its duty, that
slavery exists in many parts of the world, particularly in the United States
generally. Believing this, I think, I am not going too far, when I say, that
what I have stated will have the sympathy of our Americau brethren
present.

Mr. BIRNEY.— I will briefly reply to a question which lias just now been
put to me, and which is to be answered before the committee retires, to
whom the subject, with which the question is connected, has been confided.
" Is there any case in which the slave-holder, judging him by the law of
God, is guiltless 1" — is a question with which the abolitionists of America
have been studiously met by their opponeuts, and one which they have been
under the necessity of examining and deciding on with the utmost circum-
spection. It would be altogether out of my purpose to enter, at this time,
on what is understood to be the scriptural view of the question. The
abolitionists in America believe, that the servitude spoken of in the Old
Testament, as prevailing among the Hebrews, and sanctioned by the laws of
Moses, was not, either in fprm or substance, similar to that state of things
known in more modern times, under the name of slavery. Wherever Hebrew
masters converted the honourable and beneficial servitude of Moses' law into
a scheme of oppression and wrong, at all approximating to modern slavery,
they brought on themselves and their nation the displeasure of God. His
displeasure against them for obstinately persisting in it, was signally mani-

fested in having permitted that people to he almost* wholly destroyed, and
the remnant themselves led away into captivity. The texts of the New Tes-
tament, which are so often pleaded hy the slave-holders of the present day, in
support of their system, are believed, when put to this use, to be misinter-
preted and misapplied. For one mau to compel another to labour for him
all his life, without reward ; to scourge and punish him if he ask a cessation of
the wrong, or attempt peacefully to escape from it ; to sell, and thus forcibly
separate from him for ever, his wife or his children ; to shut him out systema-
tically from the means of intellectual improvement, or of learning to read and
understand the holy scriptures, and of purifying his spirit to prepare for the
enjoyments of the life which is to eome ; all this, and every part of it, is believed
to be irreconeileable with the spirit of the New Testament ; more irrecon-
cileable with that spirit, on the received prineiples of biblieal interpretation,
than the texts relied on by the scriptural advocates of slavery can be shown,
on the same prineiples of interpretation, to be reeoncileable with their system.
Therefore, we believe, that the texts in question, to whatever system they may
have had application at the time they were written, cannot properly be used to
support such slavery as we have in America. To suppose that they authorize
slave-holders to do, what they aetually do daily, to such of their fellow-
ereatures as they have reduced under their power, is impiously to assert, that
God has given us laws whieh He justifies us in transgressing. But, not to
dwell longer on this mode of proving the slave-holder, as such, always guilty ;
is not every act which he puts forth against his fellow-men, by virtue of his
being a-slave-lwlder, a violation of natural justice 1 And is not a sacred observ-
ance of natural justice ineuleated in the Bible ? A slave-holder would not
hesitate for a moment to admit, that a refusal on his part to pay me for work
which I had done for him, at his instance, would be a violation of the first
prineiples of justice. And why ? Simply, because, as a free man, I still
possess the right to enforce my elaim. And why does he not eonsider it a
violation of justice to refuse to pay the slave for his labour 3 Is it not because
the slave has been stript of his power to enforee his elaim ? And is not this
itself a violation of natural justice 2 Surely it is. And who has perpetrated
it ? The slave-holder. And shall he he permitted, in any civilized eom-'
munity, to acquit himself of the charge of violating the first principles of
justiee in one ease, hy pleading that he has violated them in another. "Why
does not the slave-holder sell the wife or the child of his white, iustead of
his eoloivred, neighbour ? Why does he load the latter with chains, immure
him in dungeons, laeerate his body, and shrivel up his mind ? Why commit
each of these wrongs against him ? It is heeanse he has committed other
wrongs against him. As well, sir, might the foulest ontrager of female
honour defend himself by pleading that he had first slain the natural
protector of his vietim, the husband or the father. I will not detain the"
Convention longer on this subject. Let the principle that I have applied in
the several cases used for illustration, he made the test of every act, that is
peculiarly a slave-holding act, and yon will find that, without exception, they
are aets which neeessarily involve a violation of natural jnstiee, and the
plainest preeepts of Christianity.

Rev. THOMAS SWAN, (of Birmingham).— I cannot allow myself to give
a silent vote on this question. I not only approve of the prineiple, but I ex-
ceedingly rejoiee that it has been proposed for our adoptiou ; and I eonsider

that this meeting, in acting upon the recommendation which has been so beau-
tifully explained by the distinguished individual who has just spoken, will
produce effect. I am truly happy to find that my brother Stovel has risen
to this point, and I am very glad to aid him in this measure. Our benevolent
friend, Mr. Sturge, well knows that we have acted on this principle for some
years in Birmingham, and we have suffered not a little animadversion for so
doing. I, therefore, hope that the principle will be generally acted upon. It
will only be in accordance with the sentiments expressed in such mellifluous
eloquence yesterday by our venerable chairman ; it will only be in accordance,
too, with the declarations of the member for all Ireland. He told us that we
were not met to talk and display our talents for public speaking, but to work.
I remember, too, that last year our brother Stovel made an apt quotation
about facta non verba. I am glad to find that we are going to do something. I
believe it is competent for this meeting to pronounce a fair verdict on tins
subject. The churches in the Southern States of America are dens of iniquity
as far as slavery is coucerned. Look at the book, " The Thousand Witnesses."
"We must speak out, and, I trust, we shall speak out boldly. We do not wish
to interfere with any of your churches in America ; but we may assemble, and
pronounce, that a man continuing in a sin— a sin which includes all manner of
iniquity— a sin which has almost every other sin attached to it— such a man
ought not to be considered as a fit person to be a member of a Christiau
church. I am of opinion that the right hand of fellowship should be given to
no American minister, be he who he may, or what he may, or whatever be his
powers of eloquence, even if he have the powers and eloquence of an angel,
except he is prepared to say, not only that he is an abolitionist in the abstract,
but that he will not retain in Christian fellowship the man who remains in the
sin of slavery. Can it be believed that, in New York, and in the other
Northern States, men have actually been subjected to the discipline of the
church, for being guilty of the sin of abolitionism ?

ISAAC CREWDSON, Esq., (of Manchester).— lam pleased with what has
fallen from our American friend Biuney, and with the valuable information
which has been given us ; but my object in rising is to say, that I think it is
time to let this matter go to the committee. At present we are only losing
time ; the committee will well consider the subject, and judge, I hope, for
the best. I propose then that we at once send the matter to the committee.

The CHAIRMAN.— However desirous we may be to close this discussion,
I believe, if gentlemen insist upon it, they must be heard ; but I hope they will
be brief.

Rev. "W. ROBINSON, (of Kettering).— I am sorry to say one word in
opposition to what appears to be the general feeling of the meeting. I believe
that these resolutions are intended to apply not merely to slavery in Jamaica
and America, to both of which places, I believe them to be very applicable,
but to all places, and to all times. Now, the gentleman from Gloucester (Mr.
Francillon) has made an historical allusion in connection with this subject,
and I shall beg to make one more ; and, having made it, I shall leave it to your
judgment. The Apostle Paul, we find, confirms the fact that there were slaves
aud slave-holders in the early church ; for he says, " Ye slaves that have be-
lieving masters, count them as brethren." Are you not about to say, "Ye
slaves that have believing masters, count them not as brethren ?' I beg to
suggest that Mr. Stovei. should leave out that part of the proposition which

says, that these resolutions should be adopted by the committee as the basis of
their proceedings. "Would it not be better that the committee to be appointed
should be left free to decide upon their own report, to be subsequently sub-
mitted to the Convention ? In that case I beg to propose, that the name of
Mr. YouNa be added to the list of the committee.

Eev. A. HARVEY.— I am a Presbyterian minister, and as much at-
tached to my Presbyterian principles, as, perhaps, it is necessary I should
be ; but I must say, that I see nothing in the recommendation at all incon-
sistent with Presbyterianism ; and I think, from the representations which
have been given of the different sections of the Christian community, every
man in the commonwealth has a right to remonstrate, and recommend, and
urge what he believes to be the truth, and true obedience to the law of God.
The very fact that his brother bears the Christian name,gives him a right to tell
him, if he is acting contrary to his conviction of Christian duty ; but if I assum e
any undue authority over my brother, he has a right to tell me that " One is
our master, even Christ ; " aud that I have no right to dictate to him on
matters of conscience. "With reference to the precept which St. Paul addressed
to slaves, I would remind the gentleman who mentioned it, that there is
nothing in the resolutions to be modified by the committee, which it is
intended to address to slaves at all on the subject ; but I would also remind him
of another injunction which St. Paul gave to masters : — " Masters, render unto
your servants the things that are equal." Are the slave-masters complying
with this injunction ? — No. Therefore, we send our advice to the churches, and
we just say to them, — "See that the apostle's injunction be carried into prac-
tical execution." "We tell them to call upon "masters to render unto their
slaves the tilings that are equal," and then they will render them their
liberty !

Rev. "W. JAMES. — There can be no doubt that slavery is a heinous
crime against the laws of God and man : all are agreed upon that. The
question now is, whether we shall pronounce a distinct opinion upon the
terms of church-fellowship, and send forth a resolution, worded as strongly
as it can be worded, in order to produce the desired effects. I was present
at the formation of the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, and I
remember listening to Dr. I/ushington, and hearing him declare, when a
similar proposition to this was made, — "Gentlemen, you will injure your
society materially, if, at its formation, you send out these opinions." The
question now is, whether we shall not be issuing a recommendation against
which a distinct opinion was then given, if we venture to declare upon the
terms of church communion. I am not about to move another amendment ;
but I would suggest, whether it would not be better to have the whole subjec t
referred to a select committee, who should decide whether any, and what,
distinct proposition should be submitted to this Convention arising out of the
statement made by Mr. Godwin, and the resolutions read by Mr. Stovel.
The committee will then determine whether it is advisable to introduce the
question regarding this principle ; for I am sure we shall split upon it.

Mr. "W. D. CREWDSON.— The resolutions which were first put to this
meeting to-day, had my very cordial approbation ; aud I am exceedingly
desirous that they should be referred to a committee, with no understanding
that they should fritter them down to meet particular cases ; but to give
honestly, and in the most straightforward manner, their opinions to the world,

and shew what the feeling of the Convention has been. We see where the
shelter has hcen taken hy those who, in America, consider themselves to be
Christians; but I hold that no man who is decidedly and thoroughly a
Christian, can hold his fellow man in bondage. For those who do consider
themselves to be Christians, and yet commit this sin, we must not furnish any
shelter hy weakening the force of these resolutions. I hope they will go to the
committee with the clear understanding that the language is not tohefnttered
down or shaped so as to cover any part of the iniquity.

' The CHAIRMAN.— I am very reluctant to prevent any other gentleman
from speaking ; hut I am rather inclined to think that we had better come to a
vote upon the question at once. „„,.,. , t.

Rev T. SCALES.— I feel as jealous of the rights of Christian churches
as anv man Still I do not think, that hy a recommendation of the kind
which has heen suggested from all parts of the room, the rights of churches
will be at all interfered with. I will not, however, now express my opinion on
that point ■ hut merely state to the Convention, what I think to be of very
great importance, that whatever decision you now come to shouldbe a decision
upon the principle, so that when the report of the committee is brought up,
the question of the principle should not again be opened. For I am per-
suaded, that if the discussion upon that point he renewed, we shall have an
almost interminable debate. The subsequent discussion should merely be as
to the details, and not upon the principle.

Mr. STANTON.— Then, if that be the course adopted, onght we not now
to admit of a great latitude of discussion? _

Kev T BINNEY.— I wish to ask what is meant by " the principle ? I
merely wish to know what Mr. Stxtrge means by "the principle?" and
whether he conceives that we are all agreed upon the principle?

The CHAIRMAN.— If our friends mean to go on with the discussion upon
the principle I cannot with propriety hastily let the subject go to a committee.
The question is, whether the committee, in bringing up theirreport, should em-
bodv in their resolutions this principle-that when persons connected with
any Christian church are either slave-owners, or do aid and encourage slavery
in any way, they should he subjected to church discipline ;. or, that merely a
recommendation should he made that such a course should be pursued. _

Rev T BINNEY.— My own impression is, that it is a very short piece
of logic If you declare that a certain thing is a sin, a great sin, and a great
violation of Christian principle, I cannot understand how you can help drawing
the inference, that a person living in that sin must he subjected to church
discipline. I think the argument and the logic of the question as clear, as
distinct and as short, as it possibly could be. But here is the difficulty which
presents itself to my mind ; there were slave-ownersin the primitive church.
I think, therefore, that the preamble of the resolutions is rather to be consi-
dered than the resolutions themselves, because it does not refer to the different
character of the modern system of slavery from that of the slavery of the
early Christian ages. Is there any gentleman who will stand up and deny
that there were slave-holders among the members of the primitive Christian
churches ? Who can deny it ?

A DELEGATE.— Not the present land of slavery.

Kev T BINNEY.— That is the very point. Will any one stand up and
say, that slavery was not known amongst the primitive Christians? I say

not, that tie system was the same. But, I believe, that there were slaves
and their masters, slaves and slave-owners, members of the church, under the
■eye of the apostles, and that the members, who were slave-owners, were not
brought before the church, and subjected to church discipline for being so.
The argumeuts of our friend from Gloucester, have rather gone to point out
the effect of the gentle insinuation of Christian doctrines and principles among
the institutions of society, than to prove the extinction of slavery by eccle-
siastical discipline. The principles and doctrines of the gospel operated, as
vegetation operates upou a wall, gradually and imperceptibly, till it brings
down the whole fabric. I have no objection to the resolutions, if the preamble
distinctly states the difference between modern slavery and that of the early
Christian ages. And unless this distinction be clearly set forth, you will
bring many minds into a state of perplexity and doubt upon the matter. The
continuance of the modern abomination canuot be tolerated among Christians.
Its horrors and atrocities make it a completely different thing, in my opinion,
from what existed in the first churches.

WILLIAM DAWES, Esq, (delegate for Ohio, U. S.)— I anticipate great
good as a result from the action of this Conference ; and iudulge a confidence
that the question now before it, involving, as it does, principles and interests
of the highest consideration to the cause of truth and of humanity will be faith-
fully and prayerfully examined, and disposed of without any temporising. It
will be readily acknowledged, that should this enlightened and influential
body, in the least -degree give countenance, or admit the idea that the religion
of Jesus authorised slavery, or justified any person in its practice, much
and lasting iujury will be done. If I am mistaken, and you are not
prepared to coincide with the injunction, "hold no fellowship with the
unfruitful works of darkness," and to recommend others to do so, I have no
hesitancy in declaring it as my belief, that evil rather than good will arise
from the action of this body. My feelings will be better understood, when
it is known that for many years I groped in the darkness of unbelief,
scepticism, and infidelity ; and that in my view, much of the infidelity which
shews itself throughout Christendom, owes its origin and life to the fact, that a
false, in the place of a righteous, holy, and unadulterated gospel, Christianity
has been extensively manifested. There is much infidelity in my country-
infidelity which stalks unhlushingly abroad, and which is frequently so high
and chaste in moral sentiment, as to declare that it is ashamed for those who
make a high profession of godliness and sanctity, but whose practice is not
only inconsistent with the common dictates of humanity, but revolting even
to a sense of commercial justice. So far as the question before you relates to
my country, it imposes the necessity of defining what Christianity is. If the
spirit and precepts of Christianity do not authorise man to enslave his fellow-
man, as many professed Christians in the United States maintain, then in
my opinion, such a declaration should be emphatically aud unequivocally made.
A distinguished physician, both a slave-holder and infidel, was a few years
since, taken by divine grace from that black and horrible pit. This change
opened on his view the truth in respeet to human rights, and he immediately
gave freedom to his slaves ; and forthwith proceeded to beseech others of his
acquaintance to do the same,— to give freedom and the Bible to the coloured
man — and especially did he plead with those professing Christianity. One of
whom in reply, assured him that some of his gang were pious. That the master

70

might not hide himself under this plausible subterfuge, the most intelligent was
questioned respecting his views of Christ. la reply, the slave indeed professed
much love to Christ, but when pressed a little to give a more definite answer,
said that he believed the Lord Jesus Christ to be the son of Governor Desha,
the man at that time the governor of the state. Of many others of their
slaves, supposed to be pious, it is said that in prayer they frequently implore
that God would make his appearanee on a large white or blaek praneing
horse ; language which shows at onee their utter ignoranee of God, and of
eourse of themselves, or the worship he requires. Now, if a system which
encloses all this, and even much more, equally absurd, iniquitous, and* humi-
liating ; a system whieh in faet involves the commission of every erime, is incon-
sistent, and at variance with the principles and spirit of the gospel, then why
not frankly and explicitly avow it ; and are we not, as Christians, solemnly
bound to do it 1 In one-half of the states in the American union the ministers
and ehureh members, with few exceptions, are either slave-holders themselves,
or countenance the system. And even in the non-slave-holding states,
sueh has hitherto been the course pursued by the great majority of the
ministry and churches, that the vile system has been strengthened by their
influence. Now, if pnre and undefiled religion eonsists in visiting the widow
and fatherless in their affliction, and is based upon the fundamental principle,
" Thou shaft love the Lord thy God, with all thy heart, and thy neighbour as
thyself;" then in the name of half a million of free eoloured people of my
country, who set apart the first day of the sitting of this Convention as one
of humiliation and prayer, to be observed by them, that the Lord would guide
us in all our deliberations ; and as one beseeching for the three millions there,
who are this day in cruel relentless bondage ; and in bowels of compassion for
the misguided infidels of our land, who have their eyes upon the false rather
than the true witnesses for Christ, and who stumble by not giving due heed
to that witness within, which would incline them to search the scriptures,
which testify of Him, whose "law is perfect, converting the soul;" and in
pity to the slave-holder himself, who by persisting in his oppression puts in
jeopardy his interests, both in the present life, and that whieh is to come ;
and for Sion's best good— I have a right to ask, and to enjoin, that you should
thus decide, and not temporise.

Rev. J. A. JAMES.— I hope we shall not eome to a decision on this question
without the fullest deliberation. "We are now touehing the mainspring of
the whole subject. Our objeet is the extinction of the slave-trade, and in
order to effeet this, we must put an end to slavery in America ; and to put it
down in America, we must put it out of the ehureh in America ; and to put it
out of the ehureh in Ameriea, we must press and \irge the strongest repre-
sentation and remonstrance we can frame. The ehureh, let the abettors of
slavery say what they will, is the main prop of slavery in Ameriea. The
demon of slavery finds his haunt, and shelter, and defenee, not so mueh
beneath the presidential, or indeed, the professional chair, as under the altar
of the Lord in the house of our God. Therefore we must do something that
shall tell upon the church. The influence of that sacred body in this matter
is great. This is a moral question ; and we well know that the ehureh
professes to be based on moral grounds ; and that moral influence is going
out from it, either good or bad, according as the ehureh is following the
precepts of the word of God. Therefore we must do something that shall

71

tell upon professors of religiou. I do not know any thing more likely to tell
upon them than a temperate, hut firm and uncompromising declaration, such
as is embodied in these resolutions. Though I will not take upou myself to
say how they should he worded ; yet some such resolutions, I believe, are
much wanted. And, belonging to a denomination, which is proverbially
sensitive as to the rights of churches, which will allow of no innovation of
those rights, and which would set at defiance this Convention itself, and ten
times this Convention, if it affected to impose upon us any thing that should
regulate our views touching the qualifications of our members, or what should
be terms of communion ; I may say, that while we should resist with all our
might such an attempt, I think we should stand prepared to listen to a repre-
sentation, specially recommended, and coming to us, from such a body as this.
But having mentioned this, I would still say, that the suggestion of Mr.
Binney deserves the grave and serious consideration of the committee, when
the subject shall be taken up by them. The slave-holder shelters himself
under the scriptures, and tells you, there were slave-holders in communion
with the primitive churches, and that these churches did not bring them to
discipline for being so. I would, therefore, meet them on that ground, by
shewing that modern slavery bears no analogy to the slavery of those times ;
that, in fact, there were not then the light and discussion to reveal the enormity
of the sin that there are now ; and that, therefore, modern slave-holders are
altogether in a different position from that of the slave-holders of the days of
the apostles. It would be wise to take up that suggestion in the preamble.
We want to produce an effect on the public mind, both in America and at
home. If we declare, and put forth, and make it to be felt both here and
there, that modem slavery is incompatible with Christiauity ; we do not
thereby determine the question, whether the slavery of apostolic times was
so or not, but we shall do something to conciliate public opiuion towards
us. "While we thus put out with all firmness our resolution, that the churches
should serionsly consider whether they can retain slave-holders in their
communion, we should at the same time intimate that modern slavery is that
to which we particularly direct attention, leaviug them, of course, to defend
the ancient slavery if they can. Our object is to convince them, that slavery
as it now is, is a sin ; and such a sin as to disqualify every one who lives in it
for church-membership.

Mr. G. THOMPSON.— I scarcely know whether I ought to venture to
assume the attitude of one who would break a lance with Mr. Binney, but
I am disposed to males a remark or two on what he has advanced. Mr.
Binney has placed before us this morning a fact, which has been often before
urged on the attention of abolitionists on both sides of the Atlantic : viz.
that slavery existed in the time of the apostles. Another gentleman has
quoted a specific direction to slaves in the early Christian churches, to obey
their masters. I do not think that either of those observations should be
permitted to escape notice in a meeting like the present, lest any individual
who has not so much considered the subject as others may have been obliged
to do, should depart without those helps by which they have been able to
come to a satisfactory conclusion upon a diificult and ofVdebated point. I
grant that there were slaves in the church in the days of the apostles. I
grant, with Mr. James, that the character of the slavery of those days, in
many important poiuts, differed from the character of the slavery which we

72

ur day. But there are other circumstances, of equal, if not of
greater importance, to be taken into accouut. The first of these is this— that,
if St. Paul did not denounce slavery specifically, if he did not authoritatively
enjoin upon masters the liberation of their [slaves, he was silent also upon
many other subjects, respecting which there never has been a doubt from the
time that sound morality has been propagated in the world. St. Paul did not
come into the world an Anti-slavery lecturer ; he was appointed to propagate
a new religion — salvation by the cross of Christ. I think it is important for
all of us to remember this. If St. Paul did not go about denouncing specific
sins, and prescribing specific penalties for those sins, he nevertheless laid down
great principles, according to which we may safely judge with respect to any
particular act or line of conduct brought under our view. Sir Isaac Newton
when he brought into existence his system of astronomy, did not at the same
time go into a minute and particular refutation of all and every one of the
errors and absurdities which priestcraft, superstition, ignorance, and fraud
had palmed upon the world. No, he proposed his pure system of truth, by
which he drove away all and every error that had perplexed and confused the
intellects of men. I am prepared to preach to the slave, peace and forgive-
ness, and it is the practice of all abolitionists ; rather than to talk of taking
his rights by force ; and I do not know in this day an abolitionist, either on
this or on the other side of the water, who would not say, " Art thou called
being a slave 1 Care not for it : but if thou mayest be made free, if thou
canst beg or buy thy freedom, use it rather." I think it au exceedingly
beautiful and most admirable illustration of the peaceful character of Chris-
tianity that such precepts should have been given. But on the other hand,
said he nothing to masters? While Paul addressed precepts to the
slave, providing for the safety of property, aye, even for the safety of the
slave as the property- of the master, and for every other kind of property, yet
he also addressed precepts to masters.

Mr. Clabkson here left the meeting, and the speaker paused. Mr.
Sttjkge haying resumed the chair. Mr. Thompson continued,

I was about to find fault with modern practices on the other side of
the Atlantic. I know that there are preachers in the south who are ex-
ceedingly fond of rummaging the precepts of St. Paul for props to slavery ;
and who are constantly eujoining peacefulness, thankfulness, obedience, and
industry on the one side, but on the other forgetting all the rest of St. Paul's
precepts. It was not so with St. Paul. Did he enjoin upon any slave existing
in those days, the course which has been referred to to-day % What said he
to the masters % I stand corrected, if a correction can be administered, should
I err in my view of St. Paul's mind on this subject. What is involved in the
words, " Masters give unto your servants that which is just and eqnal ?" What
in these, " The labourer is worthy of his reward I" What in these, " That
no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter, because that the
Lord is the avenger of all such J" What is involved in that grand rule
according to which church-discipline was to be exercised against those
drunkards and other vicious characters, including extortioners, who were to
have no place in the Christian church, because there was a strict injunction
to put away the evil person from amongst them % I argue, that if yon act
upon those principles, you are bound to break every yoke and to let the

73

res. Having thus answered the point, started by Mr. Binney,
that slavery existed in the earlier Christian churches; I come to the reso-
lutions which contain a recommendation to the Christian churches on the
other side of the Atlantic, to make slave-holding and slave-trading a matter
of discipline. It is no novelty that the churches on the other side of the
Atlantic, should receive a recommendation to exercise church discipline.
They do exercise church discipline, and on many points, to my mind,
by no means equal to slavery. For instance, in reference to those who distil
or vend ardent spirits ; and many, many are the churches in the United
States that will not allow a man a place amongst them who is a distiller
of those deleterious drinks, or a vendor of them. Neither will they allow
a gambler to be a church-member ; nor the mau who digs up the dead
body of a man, to sell it. Yet they will allow a man to sit in the church who
runs away with the living man and sells him to another ; and thus then-
respect for the inanimate and unconscious corpse, is infinitely superior to
their regard for the conscious and intelligent living being who stands
before them. It will be no new thing for the churches in America to
receive such recommendations, for they have received many such already
from other assemblies, though not as august in their character as this. When I
was in the United States, there was a discussion with regard to the matter
before us. In 1801, the Presbyterians of the United States agreed to put down
slavery ; more recently, all the free-will Baptists agreed to have nothing to do
with the abomination ; and I was the bearer from the Baptist churches here,
of a recommendation signed by 180 ministers, that slavery should be made a
matter of church-discipline in all the Baptist churches throughout that
country. Since I left the United States, the cause has been winning its way
down to the present time. The eyes of the churches in America are upon this
meeting : the eyes of the slave-holder are upon us. Slavery has been denounced
by thousands, and yet the slave-holders have continued to forge fetters, and
rivet them on the limbs of those within their power. Let us quit then the
world of abstraction, and come to plain practical terms and purposes. Let us
cease to carry our discussions into those sublime regions, into which many
cannot follow us. Let us not seem as if we would have nothing to do with the
lowerworld. Let us stigmatize the act of holding slaves, or of obtaining slaves
as one to be utterly denounced, and let us not ascend into the clouds of meta-
physical reasonings, unless it be to draw thence a thunderbolt to smite the
system and destroy it for ever. I could tell you many things about the theo-
logians of America that are heart-rending ; and many others, in connection
with them, that are so ludicrous that they could scarcely be uttered without
provoking your risibility. Christian ethics have, in the United States, been
polluted at the very fountain head. Not only in the southern states of
America, but even in the northern states, has this beeu done. And it has been
done in the chairs of professors, and within the halls of universities. Brown
University itself has not been free from the odium. Even in cases where the
subject of slavery has been merely introduced in the form of an abstract
question, and that in the course of an octavo volume, the lynx eye of a slave-
holder has detected the abolition principle,and has immediately put the volume
which contained it into the incl- a . ■• • or there is such a thing, even in

America — has denounced the university from which the book issued, and has
represented the student coming from that university as uufit to be received into

74

any situation of responsibility and confidence iu the south. But you must re-
member, brethren and fathers, that you have to do with the common people as
well as with ministers and officers of Christian churches. The priest's lips should
keep knowledge, and they should impart iustruction to the people. But there
are cases in which this knowledge and instruction is influenced by considera-
tions which are by no means friendly to the advancement of your cause. Mr. A.
or Mr. B. keeps slaves, and he exacts labour from them, and flogs them, aye,
even females are flogged by his orders ; and yet he goes forth and preaches,
and preaches quite as well as any other man can possibly do. There are a
variety of sects in the United States ; but if you find all these sects of the same
character ; if you perceive that they think and speak alike upon this subject;
if they read and expound alike the writings of the apostle Paul, not excepting
his Epistle to Philemon ;— it is surely necessary that yon should call their
attentiou to pure and impartial views of this question, and even if you fail to
convince and to convert the ministers and officers of Christian churches, yon
will yet make a deep impression upon their people, and a powerful movement
will be made in favour of your principles. But to refer again to St. Paul and
his writings. He dealt with the subject in his day with a few general declara-
tions and directions. But would he so deal with the subject in the present day ?
When the system of slavery has been so long established, and established as a
regular system, would he now deal with it by a few general principles and
regulations ? No ! he would lay judgment to the line, and righteousness to
the plummet ; and thus he would shake the whole fabric of slavery to its very
foundation. Sir, I do hold that what the committee may do on the principle
of the resolution now under discussion, will very materially assist our great
cause. Aim to make the fountain pure. State your principles plainly and
firmly. This is a course well worthy your character— worthy your position-
worthy your great object— worthy what you have already done. You will
thus show the truth and the justice of your principles. You will make it
evideut what you consider you have a right to expect from those who profess
the pure and generous principles of Christianity. You will thus deal as you
ought with those who, while they have scrupulously tithed mint, and anise, and
cummin, have yet neglected the weightier matters of the law, judgment,
mercy, and faith. In thus fixing your principles you are exerting your legi-
timate influence, and exerting it in a manner alike becoming your character
and your great cause. You will thus bring the teachers of religion to consider
what is due to consistency, and you will make the pulpit, — what it ought ever
to be,— the faithful herald of the Great Emancipator— of Him who came to
break every fetter — to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the
prison doors to those who are bound.

Rev. C. E. BIBT, (of Bristol).— Let me, in the first place, endeavour
to set myself right with the meeting, that what I say may not be
misunderstood. It is my intention to support the original resolution.
I set out with an expression of my approbation of the principle of re-
commending all the Christian churches throughout the world to con-
sider whether they can conscientiously hold their fellow-creatures in
slavery, aud also whether they can conscientiously regard as Christian
brethren those who do so. Opinions have been expressed by differeut
speakers as to the statement made by Mr. Binnet, in reference to the
3 of slavery iu the primitive churches, but his statement was

75.

one of fact. Unquestionably in the primitive churches there were slave-
holders ; but unquestionably, also, slavery in modern times is as different
from the slavery in the apostles' day, as is the tiger from the dove. Unques-
tionably, too, the principles laid down by the apostle in his writings,
would go to put down the whole system most fully. In this country, we have
but little difference of opinion upon this subject in our churches. At Bristol,
we have been so anxious to preserve ourselves pure upon this subject, that we
have found it necessary to resort to tests, though hating tests in the abstract ;
but since the intercourse with America has become so easy by means of steaui
navigation, we have found it necessary to form a resolution, that no minister
from America should be allowed to preach in our pulpits who was not willing
not only to profess his hatred to slavery in the abstract, but who was not also
willing to make a good confession of his sense of Christian duty to exert him-
self to put down slavery in every possible form. But I do not think that this
test is quite sufficient. Many declare their detestation of slavery in terms so
strong, that our hearts are quite warmed towards them ; and yet, from what
we have heard respecting some of them, we have been obliged to entertain
doubts whether they are very diligent and efficient advocates of abolition.
We wisb to know plainly, whether in addition to the opinion they express as
to slavery in general, they are determined to use all legitimate meaus of
accoinplishiug this great and godlike ohject. We have been told by the mover
of the amendment, that in the church, of which he is a member, a holder of
slaves would not be recognized as a Christian brother ; and that he and tbey
would at once repudiate all desire to hold friendly connexions with such
persons ; and yet the mover of tbat amendment deprecates the sending forth
to the Christian world the recommendation now proposed in the resolution.
And can it he, that an assembly composed of persons of so mauy different
denominations — Protestants and Catholics, Churchmen, Presbyterians, Dis-
senters and Friends— an assembly in which all are of one heart and of one
iniud, in which all alike declare their conviction of the injustice of slavery ;
can it he, that an assembly can be conceived better calculated to send forth
such a document I — a doenmeut which declares that persons holding slaves are
unworthy to be members of Christian churches. For my own part, I should
feel no hesitation in saying from any pulpit in the denomination to which
I belong,— -« As you honour Him who in the fulness of time appeared in
human flesh,honour that flesh in which He appeared ; and show yoursincerity
by putting away from you all those who traffic in human flesh, or who hold in
slavery any human being." And why may not we do that collectively which
we conceive it our duty to do individually ? Let our opiuion, then, be
plainly and clearly stated, and let that opinion be sent forth to the Christian
church. Yesterday, we elected our Vice-Presidents, and appointed our Secre-
taries ; and we fixed, as I believe, upon men whose services are likely to prove
valuable and efficient. But the greater portion of our work must necessarily
be done in committee. The most important labour must be performed by
practical men. Let it be so performed, and let the benefit of their labours be
reaped by the Convention at large. I approve most highly of the declaration
more than once made, that we arc come here to work, and not to talk.
I felt my heart warmed when one of the most active and persevering'
labourers in this cause said, that if we did not labour in such a way as to
advance the cause, we should in effect allow it to go back. Let u:

i adjournment until the

76

active while our energies are fresh ; before our health or our vigour has been
at all impaired ; let our labours be such as shall prove advantageous to our
great and holy cause. I conclude by supporting the resolution which recom-
mends sending forth to the Christian world the opinion, that Christianity and
slavery cannot co-exist. They could not co-exist in the West Indies ; they
must not co-exist in America. Let this go forth to the whole world.

David Turnbull, Esq. (of Paris,) moved i
afternoon.

Eev. C. STOVEL.— I think I can put the matter into such a form as may
meet the views of the friends of the cause, without an adjournment.

Rev. T. BINNEY — I do not expect that I shall be able to attend the after-
noon sitting. If I were present, I should not vote for the amendment, but
for the original motion, with a slight alteration in the preamble.

Rev. C. STOVEL.— Mr. Binney's objections would be fully met, if the
words " modern slavery " were introduced in the preamble of the resolution.

Captain STUART. — I shall regret exceedingly such an alteration. The
difference between our position and that of primitive Christians was, that they
were subjects, and that we were legislators : they submitted to laws already
existing, we were making laws. We had the mastery of society, as it were ;
we made the slavery, and we were now making laws in reference to it.

Mr. Alexander, observed that there was scarcely an instance of
a person who had spoken in favour of the amendment. The time of
the Convention had been well spent, but it was now time that the dis-
cussion came to a point.

The question of adjournment was then put, and negatived by a very
considerable majority.

Mr. Stovel expressed his willingness to forego his right of reply, and
leave the resolutions in the hands of the committee.

Mr. G. Thompson suggested, that the whole question would come up
when the report of the committee was presented.

WILLIAM BROOKS, Esq., ( of Islington), said, there is not, in my mind, a
doubt that it is a crime in a member of a Christian church to hold slaves, and
that all who hold slaves are guilty of a gross dereliction of duty. But the
question with me is, whether the present is just the body which should send
forth a recommendation, such as that proposed by the resolution.

The resolution and the amendment were then distinctly read by one
of the secretaries, and were severally put by the chairman. Pour hands
were held up for the amendment. The original resolution was carried

The Convention then adjourned.

SECOND DAY'S SITTINGS, SATURDAY, JUNE 13, 1840.

(AFTERNOON).

JOSEPH STURGE, Esq., in the Chair.

Professor ADAM read the following paper on slaveby and the

SLAVE-TRADE IN BRITISH INDIA.

After the labour and sacrifices of the people of Great Britain for the
abolition of slavery in the British West Indies, and for the protection
of the coloured population of those colonies — labours and sacrifices by
which it has been supposed by many, that the crime and curse of slavery
had been for ever banished from the British dominions ; — it may well
excite astonishment and indignation to learn the fact of the existence of
slavery under the British government in India.

1. Extent of Slavery in British India. — There has been no accurate
census of the entire population of British India, much less an accurate
registry of the slave population. Of the latter, various estimates have
been formed. The lowest would make the slave population amount to
not less than 500,000 ; another raises the number to 800,000, iucluding
Ceylon, a crown colony, and Coorg, Cochin, and Travancore, which are
dependent principalities in the Peninsula of India, not subject to the
government of the East India Company ; a third estimate, unsupported
by details, makes the whole number of slaves in British India about ten
millions ; and a fourth estimate, equally unsupported by details, makes
the number amount to twenty millions. With the strongest desire to
avoid exaggeration, it is believed that the number does not fall short of
one million, and probably greatly exceeds that estimate.

2. Origin and sources of Slavery in British India. — With the ex-
ception of an unascertained proportion of slaves of Arab and African
birth or descent, a very large majority of the slave population of India
consists of children of the soil, and the origin of their slavery was pro-
bably conquest — the conquest and subjugation of the aboriginal race by
the Hindus, and the subsequent conquest and subjugation of the Hindu
race by the Mohammedans. Hindu law recognizes conquest as a princi-
pal and legitimate source of slavery. Mohammedau law recognizes it
as the sole legitimate source of slavery. The second source of slavery in
India, and up to the present day a prolific source, is the sale of free
children by their parents, and of free orphans by those who happen to
have possession of their persons — a sale often made, it may be hoped,

from the strength of natural affectiou on the part of the parents to
preserve their offspring from starvation during the frequently recurring
periods of famine, and often, there can be as little doubt, from the
weakness and want of natural affection, to satisfy the cupidity of the
parent or nominal guardian, and to subject the children to the degrading
occupation of vice and prostitution. A third source of slavery existing
and prevalent at the preseut day, is the sale of freemen by themselves,
either for a sum of money, or in redemption of a debt previously
ineurred. This is strictly bondage — that is to say, servitude or slavery
under a bond or money-obligation. Practically the bondage is for life,
and involves that of the wife and children of the bond slave. A fourth
source of slavery, has been the sale of criminals, outcasts, concubines,
and illegitimate children. This practice existed under the native
governments, and in the early days of the British government,
but as a mode of punishment was subsequently disallowed and
repealed. A fifth source of slavery, largely prevalent at the present
day, is kidnapping, prohibited, of course, by the British government,
but eaused and cherished by the continued existence and maintenance of
the institution of slavery. It is only by the abolition of slavery that
kidnapping can be effectually prevented, by removing the temptation
to the commission of the crime. A sixth source of slavery, is the im-
portation of slaves by land and sea. The British territories in India are
surrounded and intersected in all directions by native slave-holding
states, from which slaves are clandestinely imported by land. The
importation by sea is the source of slaves of Arabian and African birth
or descent, found occasionally all over India, and existing to a con-
siderable extent on the Malabar coast. The last source of slavery is
descent from a slave parent or parents : in other words, slavery is
hereditary, and descends from parent to child. This is the chief source
of slavery in British India at the present day.

3. Nature of Slavery in British India. — Without reference to the
origin and sources of slavery, but with reference solely to their occupa-
tions and treatment, slaves may be regarded either as prtedial or domestic.
Domestic slaves are either male or female ; and male domestic slaves
either are, or are not, eunuchs. Male domestic slaves who are not
eunuchs, are iu general, it is believed, treated with mildness and
indulgence. They have free ingress and egress to and from their
master's house, and uninterrupted access to the courts of justice, and

79

thus the opportunity of preferring eomplaints is a eheck against oppres-
sion and injustice, although it is admitted by the most respectable
apologist for East India slavery, that examples of harsh, severe, and
even cruel masters are not unknown. "With regard to those male do-
mestic slaves who are eunuchs, the name alone is a sufficient description
of the unnatural and atrocious barbarity that has been practised on them.
The number of eunuchs is considerable, particularly in wealthy and volup-
tuous Mohammedan families, being kept to. guard the females of those
families. In one family, tbat'of the Nawab of Moorshedabad, it is
known on official authority, tbat there were in 1837, sixty-three
eunuchs. In one instance, in which 200 African boys were emasculated'
at Jndda, only ten survived the operation ; and in the same proportion,
in order that sixty- three should survive, 1197 must have been sacrificed.
Thepractiee of emasculation is criminal, and punishable by the Moham-
medan law as administered by the British Government in India. Fe-
male domestic slaves are kept almost universally for licentious purposes,
or employed as attendants on the seraglios of Mohammedans of rank.
They are secluded from all communication with others, and consequently
from access to courts of justice, and thus have no redress for the injustice
and cruelty with which they are often treated, amounting frequently to
mutilatiou and murder. Prsedial slaves, without distinctiou of sex,
may be classed under three sub-divisions. In some places, the land-
holders have a claim to the servitude of thousands among the inhabi-
tants of their estates, reputed to be descended from persons who were
acknowledged slaves of their ancestors. They are to be considered as
villains, attached to the glebe. They pay rent and other dues for the
lands they till, and for the pastures on which they graze their herds ;
and the chief mark of slavery is a restriction on the right of removing at
choice. The second sub-division, consists of bond slaves already described,
by whom throughout some districts the labours of husbandry are chiefly
executed. The third sub-division eonsists of the slaves of the free
peasantry, and of the petty and large land-holders. In certain provinces,
the masters or owners are themselves cultivators, and employ their
slaves as herdsmen and ploughmen; but in certain other provinces
particularly in the south of India, it is considered disgraceful for the
Brahman master or owner to eultivate the ground with his own hands,
and slave-labour alone is employed. In such provinces, the treatment of
the slave is harsh, his labour severe, his food and clothing seanty, his

habitation wretched, and his family connexions liable to be severed
at the will of his master. He has no access to courts of justice ; and
he is subject to compulsory and unrequited labour, not only for his
master, but for the Hindu community, in dragging the idol cars ; for
the public servants and their establishments ; for marching regiments
and for travellers ; and for the government of the country in stopping
any sudden breach of the great works of irrigation, in making or re-
pairing the high roads, and in carrying treasure-remittances, stolen
property that has been recovered, and the Company's monopoly tobacco ;
on all which occasions, he is guarded by armed men to prevent his
running away. The treatment of this class of the prsedial slaves in
India is such, that it is believed by competent observers, that they are
at present the most degraded, stunted, and abject form of humanity to
be found on the face of the earth.

4. The Law of Slavery in British India. — Slavery in India is nomi-
nally and formally founded, in the first place, on the Hindu law ; in the
second place, on Mohammedan law ; and in the third place, on the
adoption by the British government of India of both Hindu and
Mohammedan slave law, with certain modifications. The modifica-
tions of Mohammedan and Hindu law are all in favour of the slave ;
for instance, by rendering the murder of a slave even by his own master
a capital crime ; by abolishing the practice of selling criminals and their
offspring into slavery ; and by making slaves capable of giving evidence
in courts of justice ; but these ameliorations of the law are practically
inoperative, especially in those provinces in the south of India, where
slavery exists in its most aggravated forms. The most important
circumstance, however, connected with the law of slavery is, that
the legalization of slavery has been effected, not by a positive, direct,
and unequivocal enactment, which must have been submitted for the
approval or disapproval of parliament, and which would probably have
received the attention and called forth the opposition of the friends of
the slave ; but by a doubtful interpretation of the law, the spirit of
which is supposed to embrace slavery, and the letter of which is
acknowledged to be wholly silent on the subject. It is by means of
this confessedly doubtful, and it is believed wholly erroneous, interpre-
tation, that the entire system of East India slavery has been perpetuated
under the British government. Even admitting the correctness of this
disputed interpretation, it is acknowledged by the highest authorities,

that slavery practically exists of a kind that is wholly illegal There is
uo principle more fixed and certain in Mohammedan law than this,
that infidels made captive in war, and they only, with their descendants,
can be held as slaves. But in . Mohammedan families throughout
India, there are thousands and tens of thousands of slaves who
cannot be classed under this description ; and who are consequently,
held in hopeless, though unauthorized and illegal, bondage. Practically,
slavery in India does not rest on law but custom, for it can be proved
to be illegal, and this illegal custom has been invested by the British
government in India, with the desecrated forms and sanctions of law
and justice.

5. Administration of Slave Law in British India—This is illus-
trated by cases detailed in the law books, published by the judicial
servants of the East India Company in explanation of Hindu and
Mohammedan law as administered in British courts of justice. Only
two cases will here be quoted, and of these the first is thus described.—
" A female slave, having been emancipated from servitude, suffered much
for the want of .the necessaries of life, and sold herself with her two
daughters, one of them five and the other seven years of age, with her late
master's consent. In this case is the sale of daughters of such years avail-
able in law or not ? Have the daughters an option, on attaining the age of
maturity, to set aside the sale of their persons V Such was the question
tried in a British Indian court of justice, and put by a British judge
to the Hindu law officers, whom the law obliges him to consult. This
case occurred in 1819, in the district of Chittagong, one of the districts
of Bengal. The decision in this case was, that the children of an
emancipated slave-mother, sold as slaves by their mother with her late
master's sanction, are not entitled to their freedom on coming of age,
and have no power to nullify the contract. What a picture of society
and of law does this exhibit ! What a depth of physical wretchedness
or of moral obtuseness, or of both ! A mother emancipated from slavery
again selling herself for the necessaries of life ; receiving the gift of her
own daughters from her former master to be in like manner sold for the
relief of her wants— sold at the age of five and seven by their own
mother into perpetual slavery, perhaps to vice and infamy ; and the
perpetuity of the sale under such circumstances, when called in question
by the daughters after the attainment of mature age, affirmed by Hindu
law, and confirmed by the authority of a British court of justice. The

seeond case will probably be deemed still more flagrant. It is thus
described.— "A person procures a contract of marriage to be entered
into between bis slave and the daughter of a free person, and subsequently
sells his slave's wife to another. In this case, had the master of the
slave derived any right of proprietorship over the person of the slave's
wife by reason of her being subject to his slave, and is the sale of such
woman allowable by law ?" This case also occurred in 1819, in Chit-
tagong; and the decision, according to Hindu law, was, that a free
woman becoming the wife of a slave, becomes a slave to her husband's
master who has full power to alienate her by sale, and the sale is good
and valid. This is another of those cases which, without the evidence
of the law books from which it is taken, we should find it diffieult
to believe that the authority of the British government would be
employed to enforce. A free womau, ignorant, most probably, of the
law which affects such eases, is inveigled into marriage with a slave
by a slave's master, who subsequently sells her for his own profit, and
this sale is pronounced good and valid by the organ of Hindu law, and
reeognized as such by the British government in India and its judicial
offieers.

6. Ameliorations of the Law andPractice of Slavery in British India.
—The first and most important of these, is a modification of the
Mohammedan law of slavery. Under the Mohammedan law, the
murderer of a slave is permitted to reeeive a free pardon from the
slave's master, or to compound by a pecuniary penalty for the life of
the slave that has been murdered ; but it has been expressly enacted
by the British government, that the murderer of a slave, even if the
master himself, must suffer the eapital consequences of his act. The
sale of eriminals into slavery has been discontinued ; the prohibition
of the emaseulation of young slaves is stated to be enforced ; and the
power of emancipation, denied to the ruling power by the Moham-
medan law, has been assumed and exercised in eases of cruel treatment.
The evidenee of slaves in courts of justice has been made admissible,
and the sale of slaves by government [officers on account of arrears of
revenue due by their masters to the government, has been prohibited in
Malabar. But it is to be remarked, that these ameliorations are to be
found chiefly in the letter of the law, and illustrate rather the wishes of
the administrators than the actual practice of slavery ; for notwith-
standing these regulations, the best evidence shows thai; cases of slave

■

murder unpunished are frequent; that female domestic slaves and
prsedial slaves, both male and female, have no access to courts of justice ;
— and that the number of eunuch slaves throughout the country

7. Ameliorations of the Law and Practice of Slavery in British.
India recommended but not adopted. — One important recommendation
has been to adopt the Mohammedan law of slavery exclusively, which
would in effect amount to a total abrogation of slavery, for such a rule
would annul Hiudu slavery by recognizing Mohammedan slavery
alone; while Mohammedan slavery, aceording to the strict letter of
the law, does not now exist. Another recommendation has been the
prohibition of the sale of children by their parents or others, that
being the chief source of existing slavery. A registry of slaves has
been suggested by the Indian governmeut itself, but it has allowed its
own suggestion, as well as the preceding recommendations to fall to the
ground. It has been recommended also with a particular reference to
the prsedial slaves of the Madras territories, by express enactment, to
restrain their owners from selling them out of the country of their
birth, and from separating members of the same family, and to render
it compulsory on them to make a suitable provision in food, clothes,
and habitation for their slaves ; but no such regulations have been
enacted, nor any to protect the slaves from compulsory labour for
government and the community. It has been further proposed to
declare the purchase of free children as slaves illegal, to declare the
children of all slaves born after a certain date free ; to declare voluntary
contracts to labour obligatory only on the individual, not on his wife
and children; to mate slaves competent to possess and dispose of
property; to subject to special penalties the purchase of ^children to
be brought up as prostitutes ; to transfer the power of corporal punish-
ment from the masters of slaves to the local civil officers ; to give slaves
the power of purchasing their liberty ; to free all slaves attached to
lands or estates escheatiug to government ; and to give slaves when ill- '
treated the right to claim to be sold to another master ; all which

EECOMMENDATIONS HAVE BEEN WHOLLY NEGLECTED.

8. The only effectual remedy for the evils of slavery, is the imme-
diate abolition op slavehy. This has been recommended by men of
extensive experience and observation in India, but its highest recom-
mendation is its conformity to sound policy, to equal justice, and to an

84

enlightened humanity. It wonld be safe for the government, for all
experience shows that danger to the government has arisen only from
innovations introduced for the increase of revenue, while no danger ean
be shown to have ever arisen from innovations, such as this would be,
plainly tending to, and designed for, the welfare of the people. It is
demanded by law as well as by justice, for much of the slavery that
exists is confessedly illegal, and what is legal, if there is any such, is
unjust ; and its extinction will be supported by the moral sense of the
whole European and native communities. It is dictated by an en-
lightened humanity; for free and unshackled industry, a state of things
in which every man shall enjoy the fruits of his own labour, is at the
foundation of every measure which can be suggested or devised for
the elevation and improvement of the people of India, and such a state
of things can never exist where slavery is found.

THE SLAVE-TRADE IN AND WITH BRITISH INDIA.

The slave-trade in and with British India is either internal or
external, that is, carried on either by land or by sea. The internal
trade is earried on either in the British territories, or to and from the
surrounding and contiguous countries under native governments. The
external trade is earried on either by importation or exportation.

1. Internal Trade in the British Territories. — This trade consists in
the sale of children by their parents ; in the sale of persons by them-
selves; in the voluntary subjection of persons with their families
nominally to temporary, really to perpetual, slavery for debt; in the
sale of slaves by their masters to pay the arrears of revenue due to
government ; and in the sale of slaves by the officers of the govern-
ment to satisfy the judicial decrees. Independent of the general demo-
ralizing effect of slavery and the slave-trade, the sale of children by
their parents is often made expressly for the purpose of vice and pros-
titution ; and the sale of slaves for revenue arrears and in satisfaction
of judicial decrees, separates parents from their children, husbands from
wives, brothers from sisters, and breaks up all the relations of life.
These sales of slaves, and of free persons into slavery, are legal under the
British government in India, provided the persons to be sold are not to
be removed from one place to another for purposes of traffic ; i. e. they
may be bought and sold at the places where the parents or masters are

mmmmm

found to be, but they cannot be removed by their pareuts or masters
for the purpose of being sold ; although being sold, they may of course
be removed by their new masters. The extent of this traffie in slaves,
particularly by the sale and purchase of children in times of famine, is
believed to be very considerable.

2. Internal Trade to and from the surrounding and contiguous
countries under native governments.— -This trade is illegal and clan-
destine, but there are grounds for believing that it has not wholly
ceased. In 1811 and 1812, a traffic in slaves from Cochin and Travan-
core to Malabar, was detected, and a competent authority pronounced
that it was only by increasing vigilance that its renewal could be
prevented. In 1821, the importation of slaves from foreign states into
the southern Mahratta country, conquered by the British, was pro-
hibited, but the prohibition was declared by a high official authority to
have increased the price without putting a stop to the traffic. A high
authority also stated in 1828, that slaves continued to be imported
from Cachar, Gentiah, and other territories beyond the limits of the
British jurisdiction, into Silhet, one of the eastern districts of Bengal.
In 1834 and 1835, repeated cases brought before the judicial tribunals
have occurred of slaves imported into the Bombay territory, from
Nagpore, Malwa, and Mewar. Until slavery itself is abolished the
trade will continue.

3. Eocternal Import Trade in Slaves. — There exists in India com-
paratively a small but in itself a considerable, number of slaves of
African and Arab birth and deseent. They are found as eunuch-slaves
in wealthy Mohammedan families throughout the whole of India, and
in greatest number in all the principal towns throughout Malabar and
Canara. They have been and are imported either by Arabs or Portu-
guese; by Arabs as personal attendants of their masters, or as sailors
employed in navigating the Arab Mopilla or Lubbee vessels, and by
Portuguese to be sold at Goa, Damann, and Diu, to supply the demand
for slaves in Portuguese families at those places, and the remainder to
be distributed over the north-western coasts of India, and smuggled
into the British territories adjoining the Portuguese settlements. In
1824, it was publicly alleged that 150 eunuchs had been landed from
the Arab ships that had arrived at Calcutta that season ; and in 1826,
it is known that three slave-girls were imported. This slave-trade is
of course illegal, but adequate means are not employed to enforee the law.

4. External Export Trade in Slaves. — At one period, from the
middle to the elose of the last century, this traffic was very actively
carried on, and it had largely increased under the British government, ""
and was prosecuted hy the French and Dutch. About the close of the
century it was prohibited and* suppressed, when it assumed the
form of a system of kidnapping, which it retained until the trade
in Hill Coolies arose, which is merely another form of the same traffic.
That trade has been prohibited, and it is now sought to legalize it, in
which case the system of kidnapping and selling into slavery, which
has been in constant activity in India, will receive a fresh impulse and
encouragement, and the trade in the persons of the natives of India
will be earried on with renewed vigour.

The Chairman observed, that the document to which they had listened,
was rendered more interesting by the fact, that the Professor had himself
resided many years in British India.

Professor ADAM— I wish to suggest two or three remarks on the general
hearing of the subject. The English have visited India ; the English have
taken possession of India— by what means I will not now say— but they have
taken possession ; and they have subjected to themselves a vast amount of the
population of India. And what is the condition of that population % As to
religion, their state is the most degrading ; as it regards their general condition,
we see from the document which has been read, upon the truth of which
you may depend, that they are also in a state of deep degradation. The
English found the population in that condition. But was it to be expected
that the English government, of all the nations in the world would
have legalized the two systems of slavery which they found in existence ?
Was it to be expected that Hindu slavery, which had ceased legally to
exist under the Mohammedan government, should have been again called
into existence, have been reduced to form, have been legalized by the
British government ? Was this to be expected from our countrymen— from
those who had carried their conquests, who had conveyed their science, their
religion, to India % Surely such a course was not to be expected ; and other
countries, and after ages, will, at least, declare that it was highly incon-
sistent, especially considering their loud boasts of freedom. But not only did
the British government legalize Hindu slavery, they have also retained iu
chains those whom they found in chains, imposed upon them by successive
couquerors ! Does it not become us who are now assembled from all parts
of the world, to declare our belief that such a system should no longer be
tolerated % Is it not true that we, as a Christian, slavery-hating people, should
oxprnwi our determination that such a system shall no longer exist ; a system
of slavery established by Hindus and Mohammedans 2 Surely you will do
so. You will cause your voice to be heard ; and it will be heard, it will go
forth not only to the ends of this island, but to the very ends of the earth; and
the results will be, that we shall no longer be disgraced by the system. Nor

87

is this all. The British government is already pledged to do this ; it has been
so pledged for several years, but it has not redeemed its pledge. In the act of
1833, it was determined that slavery in India should be abolished ; it was also
provided that inquiry should be made as to the real condition of the slaves,
and that such measures should be adopted as would lead to the extinction of
slavery. The East India Company was desired to send home from time to
time such laws and regulations as would lead to the abolition of slavery. The
directions and provisions contained in the act of 1833, have hitherto proved
a dead letter. Nothing has been done to mitigate the condition of the slaves,
or to lead to the extinction of slavery. You have, therefore, strong, clear,
defined ground upon which to proceed ; and I earnestly hope that you will
proceed, notwithstanding the obstacles which may be presented in your course.

Mr. ALEXANDEB. — I have been informed, on authority upon which
I can rely, that an act was passed some years since in the House of
Commons, which, had it been acted upon, would have caused slavery long ago
to have ceased to exist in the East Indies ; but that on its being carried up
to the House of Lords, a clause was struck out, at the suggestion of the Ddke
of "Wellington, which rendered the bill comparatively null and void, so far
as slavery was concerned. That omission, it seems, was not noticed by T. P.
Buxton, and hence he made no attempt to supply the deficiency. Perhaps
some Mend present could confirm that statement.

JOSEPH PEASE, Esq., (of Darlington).— I believe that such a clause was
omitted in the way just stated. That slavery exists in British India, and that
it exists to a considerable extent, and under very painful circumstances, there
can be no doubt whatever. "We have abundant evidence to prove that fact.
But what is the remedy? "We have long talked of the evil, but what have we
done to remove it % And why have we not accomplished all we wished ? One
plain reason may be assigned, namely, that the government of this country has
profited by the continuance of the system. Something more must be done.
Daniel O'Conneli. is abont to bring forward a motion in reference to slavery
in British India. It is a fact that one-third of the land in British India is in
the possession of wild beasts ; a portion of which, if cultivated, would yield a
sufficient quantity of food for the supply of the people's wants. The Governor-
General of India has admitted this fact. Sufficient evidence upon the subject
was taken in the committee of the House of Commons ; it was proved that
the land-tax was most oppressive, leading to want and starvation, and com-
pelling millions to become slaves for a long series of years. I have stated
these things before the Directors of the East India Company, and now hope
that the statements made will go forth to the country, and that abun-
dance of petitions will be sent in to Parliament, praying that one-third of
the land, which is now in the possession of wild beasts, may be brought into
cultivation, that the wants of the human population may meet an adequate .
supply.

Eev. J. H. JOHNSON.— I have been much struck with the accounts
which I have recently heard as to East Indian Slavery. I am anxious that the
whole qnestion should be brought fairly before us, that we may furnish our
constituents with the true state of the case when we return home. In order to
promote the abolition of slavery, I have been in the habit of inducing persons
to abstain from the use of all articles which are produced by the labour of
slaves. Such adviee was very galling to those who were concerned in up-
holding slavery ; and [ have reason to believe that it told much upon the

system. I took no sugar at all myself ; but to those of my frieuds who took it,
I recommeuded the practice of taking only sugar which came from the East
Indies, because I thought that the East India sugar was the produce of the
labour of freemen. Now, if it should go forth to the world, that the larger
portion of the labourers in the East Indies are under slavery, would not I, and
those who acted as I did, appear as traducers ? Was the sugar which was
said to be the produce of free labour, really so ? or was it the product of slave-
labour ? I hope that some gentleman present will be able to explain that

Mr. G. THOMPSON.— I believe it will be found upon inquiry, that the
sugar in question was not the result of slave-labour. If the sugar really came
from Bengal, it was not the produce of forced labour.

Professor ADAM. — As far as my observation has extended, the sugar sent
from the East Indies to this country, is produced chiefly in Bengal and by free
labourers. The principal portion of pi-Eedial and agrestic slavery iu India, is in
the southern part of that Country.

Captain STUART. — All my experience, and the evidence which I have
obtained, goes to prove the correctness of the statements made by Professor
Adam, and by George Thompson. The evidence which was given before
the Houses of Lords and Commons was complete to me, as proving that the
sugar sent to this country from the East Iudies, is not sugar obtained by
agrestic slavery, but by free labour.

JOSEPH EATON, Esq., (of. Bristol).— There is a publication which may
easily be obtained, a letter addressed by W. Whitmore to our late
esteemed friend Zachary Macauley, from which it will appear, that the
sugar sent from India to this country is the produce of free labour.

R. R. R. MOORE, Esq., (of Dublin).— In refereuce to what has fallen from
Mr. Alexander, I will read an extract from a work recently published by the
Rev. Mr. Peggs, formerly a missionary in India. He says, " On the renewal of
the East India charter, in 1833, it was proposed by the King's ministers to abolish
slavery in British India, on or before April 12th, 1837; but this was over-ruled
in the Honse of Lords ; on which occasion the Duke of Wellington said, ' I
insist upon it, that there exists no necessity for framing any laws or regulations
with regard to slavery in the East Indies. I have served in that country, and
lived among the people, and I never knew an instance of cruelty being prac-
tised towards the slaves, if slaves they ought to be called.' I will not make
any comment upon that. We do not ground our efforts for the abolition of
slavery upon the fact of their being treated cruelly or kindly ; we believe that
slavery ought not to exist. But instead of this clause for the total abolition
of slavery in the East Indies there was substituted the following :— < Be it
further enacted, that the said Governor-General in Council shall, and he is
hereby required forthwith to take into consideration the means of mitigating
the state of slavery, and of ameliorating the condition of slaves, aud of
extinguishing slavery throughout the said territories so soon as sueh extinc-
tion shall be practicable and safe ; and from time to time to prepare and
transmit to the said Court of Directors drafts of laws and regulations for the
purposes aforesaid.' " Professor Adam has given us much light on this subject ;
he has settled the question for ns, and shewn that the Duke of Wellington
was utterly and entirely wrong. He has proved that this recommendation to
the Governor-General has not produced any beueficial effect, that the Governor
has not advanced oue step towards the abolition of slavery. I have always

thought, and I believe that slavery in British India furnishes us with a proof,
that gradual measures fordoing away with the evil, by giving us an idea that
the evil is being removed, only rivet the fetters mare strongly on the slave. I
have now to move, —

That a committee consisting of the following gentlemen he ap-
pointed to take into consideration the paper now read by Professor
Adam, and report to the Convention a resolution or resolutions founded
thereon; Professor Adam, Captain Stuart, Joseph Eaton, J. T.
Price, R. R. R. Moore, George Thompson, John Scoble, Joseph
Pease, and John Cropper.

I am sure that we all see and feel the importanee of the subject. I have no
doubt that we shall set to work with all the energy whieh we displayed in
refcrenee to the abolition of slavery in the "West, and that we shall not desist
until not a slave remains in the East.

Mr. G. THOMPSON.— I beg to second the resolution. The debate takes
me rather by surprise. It is a snbjeet of peculiar interest, and if the
matter be submitted to a eommittee, I should like to reserve what I have to
say until the report is brought up. It is a topie on whieh we possess less in-
formation than on many other points eonnected with the business of the Con-
vention.

RICHARD PEEK, Esq.— Allow me to state a eonversation which took
plaee on my journey to town, when I met with a gentleman who had been in the
East India Company's serviee thirty-four years. Being ignorant of the nature
of slavery in the East Indies, I inquired whether it really existed there ? He
admitted that it did, and that to a considerable extent. Further eonversation
ensued, in whieh he referred to Mr. George Thompson— stated that he had
read his leetures, and that 1 there were maYiy things in them whieh were not
correet. He instanced the assertion, that they were taking no steps to abolish
slavery. He met it by stating, that a committee had been sitting for the last
two or three years, that they would, perhaps, take a few years longer ; and
when they had suffieient information before them, a plan for the gradual abo-
lition of slavery would be introdueed. He also stated that one great source of
slavery in the East Indies was, parents selling their own children ; and that,
during the last famine, whieh oeeurred two years ago, thousands ofehildren
were sold to preserve them from starvation. The parents were plaeed in this
predieament, the ehildren must either be starved or sold for slaves ; and
many, he said, aeting from motives of humanity, purehased them. In one of
the districts, the Governor prohibited parents from selling their ehildren, and
thousands of lives were sacrifieed : they were starved to death. That might
have been obviated, if their parents had been allowed to sell them for slaves.
That is a state of things whieh ought not to exist, and I think that the eom-
mittee would do well to inquire into it.

Rev. N. COLVER.— I hope that when the eommittee take this subject
into eonsidcration, they will not limit their thoughts to the simple existenee
of slavery, as resulting from the various eauses stated by Professor Adam ;
but that they will expressly turn their attention to that grinding oppression of
the inhabitants of India, which compels them tp sell their ehildren in order to
preserve them from starvation.

90

JOSEPH SAMS, Esq., (of Darliugton).— I have been much interested by the
appointment of this committee. I consider that it maybe productive of very
great service iu reference to the objects of the Convention. I do hope, as our
worthy friend has just remarked, that the committee will not confine them-
selves simply to the report made by Professor Adam, but that they will turn
their attention minutely to the state of British India. I could also wish that
attention should be given to the subject of free labour, abundantly persuaded
as I am, that if this were properly attended to, and we as a nation, were to
use only free labour produce, it would be one of the severest blows which could
possibly be given to slavery. Our fellow-subjects, the natives of British India
are exceedingly oppressed ; and I think measures might be adopted by the
Convention, which, while they went even to destroy slavery, would tend very
materially to their benefit.

Mr. R. R. R. MOORE.— The committee are confined to the evidence on
Professor Adam's paper, and resolutions founded on it. Free labour will come
in under another head. "We shall gain nothing by mixing up the subjects.

Mr. G. Thompson concurred in the views of Mr. Moore.

The resolution was then put and agreed to unanimously.

The Rev. W. Bevan read the following paper

ON THE MORAL INFLUENCE OF SLAVERY.

The suecess of unrighteous sehemes opens abundant sourees of moral
injury. They contain within themselves the elements of re-active
retribution. The perpetrator and the vietim of injustice alike suffer.
Such are the results of the system of slavery ; results which find their
orioin in no contingent or occasional circumstances, but which arise
from the essential and invariable principles on which the system is
based.

I. The man-stealer, the man-seller, the man-buyer, rests under the

malediction of Jehovah. He breathes a polluted air. He struggles
against an ever-present invisible agency, which his own sin has called
into being. The curse is in the field ; — the labour he exacts is less
productive, the capital he invests is less sceure, than that which stands
free from the prohibited traffic. The curse is on his soul;— a blight
settles on his personal character, his social affections, his domestic eircle,
his religious fellowship.

1. The tendency of the system is opposed to that sense of justice,
the preservation of which is the safeguard of individual integrity and
social order. Before enslaving men, it denies to them the attributes of
humanity. It permits not their claim to intellectual and moral qualities.
It eonverts their unintelligent physieal powers into mere machines. It

91

docs violenec to the responsible relation of men to God, and invades his
prerogative, by prohibiting the exercise of the will in an accountable
agent. Its arbitrary power reduces the equal to the condition of an
abject inferior. It ordains the sole supremacy of the enslaver, with
which no other will may interfere. It leaves his selfish passion uncon-
trolled. It destroys all sense of reciprocal obligation,
victim of the rights of man, for it removes him from the
rank of man. It proclaims that he can suffer no wrong, for he can
possess no right.

The demand of exorbitant labour permits no equitable return. The
labourer is not worthy of his hire. The master commands the sole
advantage, the slave can have none, from his ceaseless toil. The stimu-
lant of coercive violence is substituted for that of personal interest and
lawful wages. When tasked beyond his strength, when exhausted and
dispirited, the slave finds no vestige of a sense of justice to which he
can appeal.

Hence, also, that recklessness of human life, by which the system has
ever been disgraeed. It is unchecked by considerations of humanity or
equity, and is eounteracted only by mercenary calculations. The short-
ening or lengthening of slave life, is in proportion to the severity or
leniency with which the system is worked. This is regulated by
nicely adjusted estimates of the profit which, in cither alternative, is
likely to be realized. The slave is the helpless engine by which that
profit is to be secured. He ean appeal to none. He has no right to
his own life.

The first step, then, in the progress of the system, tends to the de-
struction of the sense of justiee. None can become implicated in it,
without receiving the taint. None ean pursue it, without that moral
injury to themselves which ever results from the oft repeated violation of
human rights, and of the principles of divine equity.

2. Moreover, the system of slavery sets at defiance the sympathies
of humanity. The position in which the slave is placed, removes him
from the exercise of those affections that constitute the beauty and
glory of human nature, and that mitigate the ills to which flesh is heir.
He is refused the plaec — he is robbed of the properties of a man.
Intellectual and spiritual excellence is denied him, He is declared to
possess nothing that can harmonize with benevolent emotions or sancti-
fying graces. As though the power of love could find no entranee into

liis breast, lie is abandoned to that of coercion and terror. The bonds
of the great brotherhood of the family of earth are snapt asunder.
The spirit of tyranny rises to the throne, and banishes "peace and
good-will." It gathers strength from exercise, and increases its appetite
with increase of prey. Tenderness of spirit gives way to ferocity.
Humanity shudders at the transformation.

The helpless infant is left to pine and perish ; or only reared that it
may be torn away, as a thing of merchandize, from its mother's breast.
The modesty and innocence of woman are no defence ; but are recklessly
outraged, as a valueless possession to the slave. The most sacred bonds
of family and connubial relation and happiness are annihilated, to gra-
tify the lust of the impure. With the fruits of infamy, the markets of
human flesh are glutted. The wages of unrighteousness arc gathered
from lawless and licentious passion.

The virgin in her chastity, — the mother in her agony, — the weak in
their debility, — the aged in their decrepitude, — the dying in their extre-
mity, find the door of the heart barred against them. Despoiled of
their title to humanity, they must endure unpitied the vengeance they
have not deserved.

To yield to the moral influence of this system is to defile the source
of purity, to freeze up the fountains of benevolence.

3. Nor is the system less antagonist to the sacred influences and
claims of religion. It repudiates the second table of the ancient law,
which is comprehended in these words ; — " Thou shalt love thy neigh-
bour as thyself." It provides an agency for the violation of the law of
Christ ; " All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do
ye even so to them." It stands in direct opposition to the great end of
the moral government of God, and that universal love which He sent
his Son to teach, and which He gives his Holy Spirit to promote.

Like the pestilence walking in darkness, it stealthily, but effec-
tually, diffuses its poison through the entire constitution of society.
It fosters impurity and violence. It endangers personal security
and social order. The ferocity of slave-holders to each other, the
unchasteness of mind and conversation, from which their wives and
daughters arc not free, the daring and indiscriminating attacks
on life, which, while they issue fatally, are tolerated in silence,
present a picture of appalling colours. The Right Rev. B. B. Smith,
bishop of the episcopal diocese of Kentucky, in allusion to this fierce

and dangerous spirit, says, " Tho victims are not by any Means the
most worthless of our population. It too often happens that the en-
lightened citizen, the elevated lawyer, the affectionate husband, and
precious father, are thus instantaneously taken from their useful stations
on earth, and hurried, unprepared, to their final account. * * * * .
"What can have brought about and perpetuated this shocking state of
things?" The bishop subsequently refers to a prevailing cause, as ex-
isting in the system of slavery : " Arc not some of the indirect influences
of a system, the existence of which amongst us can never be sufficiently
deplored, discoverable in these affrays ? Are not our young men more
heady, violent, and imperious, in consequence of their early habits of
command ? Are not our taverns and other public places of resort much
more erowded with an inflammable material, than if young men were
brought up in the staid and frugal habits of those who are constrained
to earn their bread by the sweat of their brow ?"

4. The baneful influence of the system is exerted upon the characters
of professing Christians, as well as upon those who fear not God. It
can only be adopted at the expense of the fundamental principles of the
Gospel. It is as the letting out of water, swelling into a torrent, and
bearing away every barrier, till it overspreads and defiles every heart
with its turbulent and polluted tide. Christian professors become its
apologists; they drink into its spirit; they fall into its snares; they
partake of its sins. That power of delusion must be gigantic which stifles
within their breasts eonvictions of solemn and imperative duty, and
which blinds them to the mischiefs and injustice they perpetrate. That
mystery of iniquity must be fearful which allures to its defence, the
ministers of peace and mercy; while it stops their lips from remon-
strating with the guilty, and puts into their hands the weapons of the

The toleration of slavery in connexion with the church is a daring
and flagrant insult to the Prince of Peace, who is ordained to "break
every yoke." Its practice by professing Christians is a deliberate con- '
travention of the design of His truth, which maketh " free indeed."

II.— The moral influence of the system on the character of the slave is
injurious to the last degree.

1. It denies him the nature and the rights of man, without possessing
the power so to embrutc him, as to destroy the consciousness that he is
a man. Hence, he more sensitively feels his degradation. It prostrates

94
Mm in tlie dust, and forbids liim to rise. He finds that lie lias no
power to ameliorate liis condition, that no effort can rescue hirn from
his squalid wretchedness and subjection. In the midst of ceaseless
struggles for human liberties he can take no share. Every right of
a citizen and a free agent is unconditionally, and perpetually torn from
him. The quickness of his perception, the indestruetibility of his
consciousness of right, render him the more reckless, till, abandoning
himself to despair, and becoming as wicked as he has been made abject,
he outrages, in himself, the dignity of his noble nature.

2. The system of slavery cramps all that is expansive in the intellect,
and generous in the heart. It removes all incentive to improvement. It
denies the slave the right to amend even his physical condition, as it
prevents his possession of property. It prohibits the culture of mind,
and to the utmost of its power, the exercise of independent thought. It
dooms him to mental bondage and darkness, and declares the penalty of
the law against his instructor. He feels that he has powers that he
must not employ— resources that he must not use— a principle within
him that he must not develope. He sinks under the pressure of the
system, until it makes him as ignoble as it declares him to be.

3. In a condition so dark and oppressive, shut out from the know-
ledge of rectitude and the protection of law, the sense of moral right is
destroyed within the slave. Without law, he becomes lawless.
Plundered of his right of property in himself, he apprehends no wrong-
in plundering a portion of his master's accidental property around him.
Reared in the midst of deception and fraud, he knows neither the
sanctions of truth, nor the iniquity of a lie. Taxed in his toil, stinted
in his food, defrauded of his hire, he perceives no dishonesty in with-
holding his labour, and, by stealth,- supplying the eravings of nature.
There is no sense of justice to impel him to his work. He is moved
only by fear, which hath torment. The cruelties he endures goad him
to desperation. The turbulence to which he is driven finds no restraint
in any conviction of moral obligation ; for this he is not taught to regard.

4. Hence it reduees him to the dominion of restless, unrestrained,
unguided passion. His mind is uninstructcd, his conscience scared, his
judgment prostrated, his emotions perverted. He wants but the
opportunity to gratify that which can only be repressed by force. He
knows of nothing wrong in giving way to the lower appetites, when
that restraint is removed. He has no higher ambition. The patterns

95

of lust, with which he is familiar, in his educated and polite superiors,
he is not slow to imitate. Opportunities, incentives, and provocatives
are ever at hand. The honour of man, the delicacy of woman, alike
yield to brutal sensuality. Their promiscuous lodging, their defective
clothing, the denial of marriage, destroy every feeling of propriety. In
the race of mixed colour they see a living apology for their passion. The
licentiousness of the master excuses and fosters the licentiousness of
the slave. The only true corrective is withheld, because it is the charter
of his liberties. The truth that sanctifies, he is not permitted to read,
because " the truth maketh free."

The slave feels that his labour is a degradation. On this account
the white population despise it. The terms by which he and his
toil are designated are terms of indignity. His familiarity with them
augments the bitterness of his sufferings, destroys his self-respect, exas-
perates him to madness, or sinks him into stubborn indifference.

5. The system of slavery robs him of the proper benefit of religion.
He is not to receive its full proclamation ; it announces liberty to the
captives. He is not to feel its motives ; it destroys slavish fear, and
implants the constraining influence of love. He is not to breathe its
spirit ; it is the spirit of glorious liberty to the children of God. He is
not to learn its fundamental law ; it is the law of moral and spiritual
equality, of universal and reciprocal charity. This anti-christian system
deprives him of the peace, the hope, and the joy, of which godliness hath
the promise in this life. It suffers him not to read the wonderful truths
of God. It refuses the key of knowledge. It presents him with a
mutilated gospel, a defective religion. In him, therefore, it does
violence to God's means of grace, weakeus the energy of the spiritual
life, stunts the growth of the immortal nature, and impairs the beauty
of the Divine image in his soul.

in. — A system so founded in injustice, so reared in irreligion, so con-
summated in enormity, opposes a fearful barrier to the progress of
civilization, education, and Christianity. In every operation on the
character of the enslaver and the enslaved, it accelerates the downward
movement of depravity and misery.

The Christian church is brought to the conviction, that only in the
diffusion of the blessings of education and religion, will true
civilization advance, and these are withheld. To retain the slave
as a chattel, a mere animated machine, the intelligent principle

90

■within him must be crippled and fettered. It can never be des-
troyed. Hence, the restrictions on means of instruction, and the
penal sanctions by which they are enforced. Above all, the spirit of
Christianity is restrained. Slavery decrees that the word of the Lord
shall not have free coarse. The two cannot walk through the land
together, for they are not agreed. If the gospel be triumphant, slavery
must fall. That slavery may continue in despotic might, the truth of
God must he hound. They are diametrically and unalterably opposed.
Slavery consorts with the demon of pollution ; the gospel breathes the
spirit of purity. Slavery seeks an asylum in the thick darkness ; the
gospel is the emanation of pure and heavenly light. Slavery denies to
man the prerogatives of reason and conscience ; the gospel illuminates
his mind, purifies the conscience, and sets it free. Slavery debases and
curses his being ; the gospel ennobles and blesses him with a renewed
and celestial nature. Slavery plunges him into unmitigated distress
and despair; the gospel elevates him to joy and hope. Slavery draws
a veil over the revelation of life and immortality ; the gospel confers the
free aud glorious title to the life everlasting.

The outbreakings of the evil genius of the system, have ever been
characterised by unrelenting animosity to the religion of Jesus. It has
razed the Christian sanctuary; it has committed to the flames the
oracles of God, it has satiated its fury with the blood of the saints.
To gather the broken in heart to the ministry of consolation, is
rebellion against its majesty : to anuounce the opening of the prison
to them that arc bound, is to move the wretched captives to sedition:
to read the messages of sovereign grace, is to utter treason against its
state.

The question which the church of Christ has to determine, is,
whether the gospel shall be hidden, or this monster tyrant be over-
thrown. To its determination she must proceed. Considerations of
policy and expediency must be banished from her counsels, when high
and sacred duty summons her to action. The testimony of her solemn
assemblies must go forth, the remonstrance of her consecrated ministers
must be heard abroad. Her silence must be broken : the trumpet of
battle must be sounded against the abomination, which retains the un-
civilized in their degradation, in the midst of the enlightened and the
free; which endangers the peace, the stability, the prosperity, the hap-
piness of mighty nations ; which resists the progress of the. heralds of

salvation; which hinders the descent of Divine benediction ; which is
twice accursed, which curseth in time and in eternity, both him that
enslaves, and him that is enslaved.

Mr. W. Morgan read the following letter from Dr. Channing of
Boston, Massachusetts, addressed to J. G. Birney, Esq.

Boston, April 26, 1840.
My Dear Sir.— You request me in your letter to make some
communication which may be laid before the Anti-Slavery Convention
at London. I cannot do this for want of sufficiently precise knowledge
of the state of things at home and abroad. I have projects enough in
my mind, but objections would probably be started to them, which a
man conversant with passing events would easily anticipate. I can,
therefore, prepare no formal document, but I will give my views more
distinctly on some points; yon can put my letter, if you see fit, into
the hands of any who may think them worth attention.

I would reiterate what I said to you of the great importance of the
Convention. If I mistake not, this is the first instance of the meeting of
the friends of humanity from different countries, for purely philanthropic
purposes. I see in it the sign of a new era. I hope it is the opening of
better times. Good men have long enough left the world to be governed
by the selfish. Great men, as they are called, have seldom been moved
by a higher impulse, than a narrow, unjust patriotism. It is time,
that the principles of universal justice and love should be recognized as
the lawful sovereigns of the world; that the Christian doctrine of
human brotherhood should cease to be a theme of declamation, should
be embodied in conspicuous action. There are men enough of a large
heart to give an impulse to society, if they could but understand one
another; not that I should expect much from extensive organizations.
I want nothing but free communication and sympathy, giving new
strength and knowledge, and leaving each man free to aet in his own
way. The Convention, I doubt not, will be a stirring one ; it must bo
more than stirring. I trust, it will inspire reverenee and confidence, by
its calm, lofty wisdom. It is hardly worth the while to cross the
ocean, to bring together men from different countries, merely to give
utterance to fervent feeling, however generous. At present, we need
light even more than heat.
I spoke to you of two points in this part of the world, to which I

hope the attention of the Convention will be turned. The first is,
emancipation in Cuba. It is of vast importance, on account of the
market which that island furnishes for slaves, and the great impulse
thus given to the slave-trade ; on account of the singular honors and
cruelties of the sugar culture in Cuba; and on account of the influence
which would be exerted on our southern states by abolition in that near
and extensive region. Can any thing be done to hasten this measure ?
Undoubtedly, the mother eountry would emancipate Cuba immediately,
if she could'hope in this way to get more revenue ; but would not the
first result be a diminution of revenue ? If it be true, as we are some-
times told, that an American interest is gaining strength in Cuba, and
that the people are looking with growing desire to union with this
country, then abolition would be the true policy of Spain, as it would
sever one strong bond of union, and remove an important ground of
sympathy between the two countries. I trust, that this island will not
achieve its independence before emancipation, an event to which some
seem to look ; for, I fear, that if left to itself, it would cling to slavery
as obstinately as our own slave- states.

The next great object of attention in this quarter, and far more
interesting, is Mexico. There is nothing in the condition of Mexico
to prevent its provinces , from being over-run by this country;
nothing to prevent slavery from being carried to the Isthmus of Darien.
The motives which led to the seizure of Texas, as you well know, have
lost nothing of their force. A country so disorganized and demoralized
as Mexico, is an easy prey to a powerful neighbour. It has been
suggested, that our inroads might be checked by colonies of free
coloured people in the frontier provinces of Mexico. But would our
slave-holders endure the presence of settlements, which would invite and
harbour fugitive slaves ; and would furnish, by the example of their
freedom, perpetual motives to revolt ? The unbounded rage, eupidity
and alarm of the slave-states would stimulate fierce assaults, iuexcitable
by the coloured man. I should hope much more from European emi-
grants, if the climate were more favourable. Can the European
powers, who have possessions in the Gulf of Mexieo, be brought to
guarantee the integrity of the Mexican state ? It is hard indeed to
uphold a state sinking under the weight of its own corruption ; but
this matter is too solemn to be given up in despair.

There is one method of acting on slavery, whieh seems to me worthy

of the consideration of the Convention. I refer to what has often been
discussed here, abstinence from the products of slave-labour. This,
could it be extensive, would have great efficacy, and it has some peculiar
advantages. It is a mode of action within every man's reach, be he
rich or poor, and of constant recurrence ; it must bring the great
subject before the individual daily, in almost every purchase he makes,
at his meals, in selecting his dress, &c. It would be a better bond of
union than any association, and would require none of the exacting
processes now in use. Through this abstinence, a man would act on
slavery himself, immediately, and not through an organized body, in
which he is of little moment. He would feel, that every day he was
doing something towards his object. The friends of abolition, united in
this mode of action through the world, would produce great effect.
But I am aware that there are great obstacles to its adoption. In this
country, little can be hoped from it for a considerable time. Slavery,
you know, has mixed itself up with almost our whole industry. The
manufactories and carrying trade of the north, in which a vast capital
is invested, and which are sources of immense profit, owe their being
very much to the staple of the slave states. You know how largely
cotton enters into our domestic and foreign commerce. We all wear its
fabrics, which, by their cheapness, contribute essentially to the comfort
and decent appearance of the labouring classes. In a thousand other
ways, exchanges go on between the south and north. Great numbers
of our mechanics work for the southern market. In truth, it is hardly
possible to live here without coming in contact with slavery. It is
also true, that the commercial and manufacturing interests of England,
by which millions subsist, have at present many and intimate con-
nexions with slave labour. I see all these difficulties. Nothing can
be done immediately. But, it may be useful to inquire, if no pre-
paration can be made for future efficient action. May not this method
of testifying against the greatest of all infractions of human rights, be
silently and gradually spread through the Christian world, and would it
not do much to strengthen the principles of justice and humanity?

It has sometimes been said, that governments should be solicited to
exclude slave-products. But Buonaparte's continental system shows
us the weakness of such expedients. No reliance can be placed on cus-
tom-houses, &c. Infinite fraud and smuggling would grow out of such
restrictions. Our dependence must be mainly on moral and religious

100
prineiple, on the sense of justiee and the spirit of freedom. I ean
coneeive of hardly any thing more disastrous, than an attempt on the
part of the English government to put down slavery here. Sueh
effort would identify slavery with our national pride, and would rouse,
I fear, a national spirit for its support. Perhaps, England, in fulfilling
her duty to India, may render herself less dependent on slave-labour.
Every motive of poliey and humanity seems to require her to direct her
energies and influenee, as she never has done, to her vast possessions in
the East.

I have no other topics to suggest. Allow me to express my hope,
that the delegates from this eountry will earry to the Convention, a just,
kind, and eandid spirit. I expect them to speak the truth of our
country, of our deplorable insensibility to the wrongs of the slave, and
our unfaithfulness to the prineiples of freedom. But, I trust, they will
speak of these things in sorrow, not anger ; that they will rise above all
the irritations whieh loeal events have awakened. It is natural that
distanee should strengthen our filial attaehment to our native land ;
and this sentiment, if joined with universal good-will, not only meets
indulgence, but honour, from strangers.

Again I implore for you and your fellow-labourers, the blessing of
God. May his Spirit, the Spirit of wisdom and love, be your strength
and guide. Perhaps, I hope more from the Convention than ean be
aeeomplished in this stage of the enterprise; but, in one thing it cannot
fad, exeept through its own fault. It can and must bind more elosely
together the friends of the oppressed, and spread more and more through
the Christian world the solemn, uneonquerable purpose of putting an
end to slavery. Very sineerely your friend,

"William E. Cdanning.

Mr. ALEXANDER on the eall of the Convention, made the following
statement on the subject of slavery in the Danish West India Colonies :—

Although, in the autumn of last year, I undertook a voyage to Denmark, the
facts in my possessiou relative to tke slave-colonies of. that country, are by
no means extensive. I will, however, before proceeding to state what I
have learned, just observe, that it appeared to be the duty of the friends of
the neoro in England, after having done so much, through the Diviue bless-
ing to & effeet the emancipation of the slaves in our West Indian colonies, to
attempt to do something, in order to place those degraded aud wretehed bemgs
who are suffering the same ills under other governments, in the rank of
freemen. Entertaining these sentimeuts, and having no reason to suppose

101

that the subjeet of the abolition of slavery had been mueh eonsidered in
Denmark, or that any organization for promoting negro emancipation existed
in that country, I proceeded to Copenhagen, at the time already alluded to,
and while there, had an opportunity of conferring with several iudividuals
possessed of information relative to the state of the Danish West India
colonies. While at Copenhagen, I also met with a small volume, written by
Sylvester Hoovey, of the United States, which throws some light upon the
eireumstanees of slavery in St. Croix, the principal island belonging to Den-
mark, in the West Indies. In this island, during twenty-six years, terminating
in 1836, the servile population had diminished from 26,000 to 19,000 ; being
a deerease of 7000 in twenty-six years. This faet alone is of importanee ;
it confirms the painful truth, not unknown to English abolitionists, that the
cultivation of sugar by slaves is fearfully destruetive of human existence. In
the island of St. Thomas, there are about 5000 slaves, and it is a frequent
resort of slave-traders. The mention of this eireumstance leads me to observe,
that one of the great evils arising from the existenee of slavery, is the perpetual
shelter and support which it affords to the traffic in human beings— a traffic
which has lately called forth the rebuke of many men, who had not distin-
guished themselves in past time by their zeal in behalf of the negro. In the
islaud of St. John, the smallest of the Danish West India islands, the slave
population is about 2000, respecting these I have nothing particular to communi-
cate. It is said that slavery in the Danish colonies is administered in the
mildest manner ; but, when one thinks of that fearful loss of human life to
which referenee has been made, and reflects also on what must be the esseutial
charaeter of a system of unpaid and eoerced labour, wherever it exists, it must
be regarded as a most frightful evil in the Danish eolonies. With respeet to
the state of education, morality, and religion there, I am sorry to say
they form no exceptiou to that which is found in other countries where
slavery prevails. All these means of human improvement and happiness, are,
to a very great extent, neglected ; and this, notwithstanding a circumstanee
of deep and peculiar interest eonneeted with these islands ; I refer to the
fact, that more than a century sinee, some missionaries, connected with the
Moravian Brethren, visited them, for the purpose of preaching the gospel to
the negroes ; and with the noble determination, that were it neeessary, in
order to effect this object to become slaves themselves, they would forego
their own liberty. The mission has eontinued up to the present day, but has
produeed little fruit, a circumstance owing, doubtless, in no small degree, to
the deteriorating influence of slavery on the whole population, and the various
and peculiar obstaeles which it is ever found to offer to the promulgation of
the gospel. I trust the day is hastening, when this evil shall cease to
prevent the full influence of the religion of Christ being felt among these
islands. I will not make auy lengthened remarks on the eireumstanees whieh
occurred during my stay in Denmark, but may mention one occurrenee.
In a conversation with the governor of the Danish West India islands,
who was at that time at Copenhagen, he told me, that when liberty was
proelaimed in the English West India islands, he felt that it would be
neeessary to promote the better treatment of their own slaves, in order to
prevent their eseape. He stated, that he found it more easy than he other-
wise would have done to persuade the planters to adopt his reeommendations,
because they felt with him, that if they did not eomply with them, they
would be unable to retain their slaves, closely situated as the Dauish islands

102

are to those of England. However interesting this cireumstauce is, as
proving that English liberty has procured some benefit for the Danish slaves ;
yet on the other hand, the danger of their eseaping to the English islands,
may lead, in some instances, to the adoption of severe measures for its
prevention. During my residence in Denmark, the first Auti-Slavery Society
was established in that country. It was formed of a few individuals, but they
are persons who, from their eharaeter, and the situation in whieh they stand,
are capable of serving, in no unimportant degree, the eause in which they
are enlisted. While at Copenhagen, I was informed that eertam measures
were under the eonsideration of the government for benefiting the con-
dition of the slave. In eonnexion with these projeeted improvements, it
had, however, been proposed to those in authority, to guarantee the system
of slavery for twenty years. It will, therefore, be clearly seen, that it is
desirable to interest the friends of lrumanity and religion in Denmark m the
situation of the slave, in order to prevent the perpetuation of an evil which
is necessarily attended with a large amount of injustice and cruelty. While
at Copenhagen, I felt it to be my duty to write an address to the late
King of Denmark. Particular eircumstances prevented me from presenting
that address in person, but by the kind assistance of one of the members o±
the committee there, I had an opportunity of plaeing it in the hands of the
then Princess, and now Queen op Denmark. I am happy to say, that this
distinguished individual is eminently likely to take a deep interest m negro
emaneipation. I do not think, that among the Queens op Europe there is one,
from whose character more may be hoped in favour of this great question of
humanity. An opportunity also oecurredof conversing withPRiNCE Christian,
the present King op Denmark. I endeavoured to point out to the Prince,
the results of abolition in our West Iudia eolonies, which had been incorrectly
represented to him in very unfavourable colours. Some doeunients were tor-
warded to this exalted person, illustrative of the conduet of the enfranehised
population in our eolonies, including the first number in the series relative
to this subject, published by direetion of the House of Commons. On my
way to Sweden, very recently, I called on Edward Birch, an Englishman,
who manifested a lively interest in the question. He kindly offered to invite
some of his friends to meet me for the purpose of reeeiving information on the
subject of slavery, should I return by way of Kiel. I trust, that there will be
persons who will profit by such an opportunity, of which I was not able to
avail myself. 'I also made a short stay at Elsiuore, where it was gratifying to
learn that an interest in the abolition of slavery was gaiuing ground in Den-
mark These are the principal facts which occur to me to meution, connected
with the subject of slavery in the Danish West India islands. They appear
additionally iuteresting, as bearing upon that great plan in which the British
and Foreign Anti-Slavery Soeicty bas embarked, for promoting the uuiversal
abolition of slavery. Whether slavery exists in any particular eountry, to a
greater or less extent, we feel it our duty to lend our assistanee to the friends
of humanity and religion, iu advancing this great work. There is one circum-
stance whieh makes the abolition of slavery in Denmark more hopeful than
in any other eountry, viz., that it was the first European uation that abolished
the slave-trade.

Mr. TURNBULL.— I have little to add to that whieh has been advaneed
by Mr. Alexander. But as I have visited the three Danish islands within
the last eighteen months, I may as well state what, in my opinion, is the

103

charaeter of that mild 'slavery in whieh Mr. Alexander does not believe,
although it is so eonsidered in Denmark. I have eompared it with what I
have seen in the United States, in the Spanish, and in the English islands,
and I believe that it is worse than in the United States. Our American
friends will, however, be able to form some idea of what that is. But I
believe it to be the mildest slavery in the islands of the West Indies. I con-
sider the slavery in the United States, bad as it is, really the least bad of all
the systems now in operation. I should be sorry to eall it the best— I eall it
the least bad. That is my opinion. I have visited . the several countries I
have referred to and examined them with some minuteness. To compare
slavery in the Danish with that in the Freneh West India islands, I shall give
this instanee. St. John's is only one mile from Tortola, a negro ean swim
across, and obtain his freedom, but no one has yet made his escape. The case
is different in the Freneh islands, for some thousands have made their escape
from Guadaloupe and Martinique, the distanee being fifteen miles in the one
ease, and twenty in the other. One-third of those who have endeavoured to
escape, have been drowned in the attempt. During the prevalenee of the
slave-trade the disproportion between the sexes was so great, that there were
generally three men to one woman. The falling off in the population, there-
fore, does not always arise from that extreme eruelty whieh you might sup-
pose ; a great deal of it is owing to the fact, that the deaths have not been
rc-plaeed by a proportionate number of births. But there is an island in the
immediate neighbourhood of St. Thomas and St. Croix, called by foreigners
Vieques, and by Englishmen Crab island, which being elaimed by Denmark,
Spain, aud England, may be said to be no man's land, and to have become a
resort for pirates and slave-traders. It would be better that'it should belong
to Spain than to no one. It would be better for it to belong to Denmark than
to Spain ; but better still that it should be defined to be the property of Eng-
land. Crab island is not so contemptible in size, or so worthless in point of
fertility, as is generally imagined. It is much larger than St. Thomas, and
more fertile than Santa Cruz. But St. Thomas itself deserves to be signalized
as the most notorious resort in the western world for the outfit of the illicit
traders to the eoast of Afriea. The Portuguese have no lawful trade in these
seas, and yet at the time of my visit to St. Thomas there were not less than
seven Portuguese vessels in the harbour ; but none of them entered in the
official registers of the eaptain of the port.

Mr. PBESCOD.— I would merely state, in confirmation of Mr. Tubs-bull's
remark, what I learnt coneerning that island, in a visit I paid in the early
part of this year to the Windward and Leeward islands. In a conversation
with Sir William Colebbooke, at Antigua, I learned that Crab island is the
resort of slavers. It eontains a population of about 1000 slaves. They are
under the dominion of a man who is a sort of despot in the island ; he
claims the sovereignty of it, makes what laws he pleases, and imposes upon
vessels what impost he pleases, and calls the island his own. But when
any thing is said about it by England, it is then said to belong to Spain, and
when Spain makes a elaim, it is said to belong to England. Sir William.
Colebbooke aseertained that the produee of the island had, at one time, been
brought to St. Kitt's to be cleared, and thenee exported as the produce of
a British island. He considers that fact to be evidence of the proprietor-
ship of England. I understand that he has made a representation on the
subject to the British government, and when I left St. Kitt's, whieh was

104

late in March, it was then expected that the British government would
take some steps, at an early period, to regain possession of the island. The
Lieutenant-Governor of St. Kitt's expressed a hope, that in a few weeks' time,
some British men-of-war would be authorised to take possession of the island,
and remove the slaves to St. Kitt's.

Mr. ALEXANDER.— I agree in the sentiment that there is -a greater
mortality than there would otherwise be, from the abolition of the slave-
trade ; but this is not sufficient to account for the actual decrease in the
population, which has taken place on the present nearly stationary number of
the slaves. Persons who reflect on these circumstances, must see that they
are of a very unsatisfactory character. Some reference has been made to a
single island belonging to Sweden. I purposely omitted alluding to this
country as well as to the colonies belonging to Holland at the present time.
To the latter subject I attribute much importance, on account of the number
of the slaves in the Dutch possessions, and the improper treatment which
they receive. I hope to have an opportunity on a future occasion, to speak
of the circumstances of Dutch slavery, and the prospects of the abolition
cause in Holland.

Mr. EATON.— The decrease in St. Croix was stated to be 7000, out of a
population of 26,000. Had not the negroes been subjected to the horrors of
slavery, they ought in twenty-six years to have increased to 40,000, so that
the actual decrease ought to be estimated at 21,000.

Mr. Alexander moved, Mr. Thrnbull seconded, and it was
carried unanimously, — That William Forster, George Stacey, and
the mover and seconder be appointed a committee to take into
consideration the facts stated by Mr. Alexander and others, in regard
to the Danish Islands, and report thereon.

Mr. Morgan moved, Mr. Phillips seconded, and it was carried
unanimously, —That a committee consisting of Messrs. Birney,
Bradburn, Colver, and Fuller, with the Secretaries, be appointed
to draft resolutions on the subject of the present aspect of the Anti-
Slavery enterprize in North America, and to report on Monday.

THIRD DAY'S SITTINGS, MONDAY, JUNE 15th, 1840.
(MORNING).
Dr. GREVILLE in the Chair.
The CHAIRMAN rose and said,

Dear and respected friends, in consequence of a suggestion made on Satur-
day, a number of delegates have already met, in order to implore the divine
blessing upon the proceedings of this day. At the same time, a number of
individuals have not been able to join that meeting, and I think you will agree
with me that any irregularity in the manner of opening the public sittings of

105

the Conventiou would be attended with eonsiderable ineonvenienee ; aud as
the suggestion that we should spend a few morneuts in reverential silenee
before we eommenee was favourably reeeived, we ought to eontinue the prae-
tice. We will now, therefore, if you please, implore the divine blessing in
silenee upon all our efforts, and sayings and doings, this day.

A pause devoted to the solemn purpose reeommended by the chairman
then ensued.

The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed.

Mr. BOULTBEE. — It has been my most anxious desire, during the whole
sitting of this Convention, to earry into effeet the suggestion of our worthy
and zealous friend, Mr. O'Connell, that we should endeavour to make all our
efforts result in some practieal movement. Now, there are many ways in
whieh this suggestion may be earned into effeet ; but it strikes me upon very
serious and careful consideration, that the most praetieal way is to show that
slavery iu its effeets is prejudicial to the planters as well as to others ; or in
other words, that free labour is far more benefieial to everybody than slave
labour. I believe it would not be at all diffieult to prove, from the evidence
and communications reeeived from many gentlemen, both from the West
Indies and from America, that the planters would be pecuniary gainers by
free labour. But I shall now content myself by moving the resolution which
has been put into my hand : —

That a committee consisting of Messrs. John Cropper, Josiah Con-
dee, and John Sturge, be appointed to colleet and arrange facts on the
advantages of free over slave labour, and to report thereon. Sueh report
to detail the most effectual means for securing the adoption of free
labour.

When the eommittee have made their report, I will venture to express my
opinion upon it. At present I will not detain the meeting further.

William Kay, Esq., (of Liverpool), seconded the motion which was
carried unanimously.

Samuel Bowly, Esq. (of Gloucester), moved, Mr. Eaton, seconded,
and it was earned unanimously, —

That a committee be appointed, consisting of W. Knibb, S. J.
Prescod, W. W. Anderson, W. Morgan, and Captain Stuart, with
power to add, to their number, to obtain and arrange evidence on the
results of emancipation in the British Colonies, and that they report
a resolution thereon ; also, that they eonsider and report the measures
now necessary for securing and rendering permanent freedom in the
said colonics.

Mr. BIENEY, on the call of the Convention, made the followiug
observations : —

106

I understand this day is to be given up to the consideration of American
Slavejiy. The time allowed not having been sufficient to enable the com-
mittee to present the subject in the most compact and manageable form of
which it is susceptible, they have decided on bringing before you, although
it may be without entire regard to consequential connexion, those points which
are deemed essential to an adequate understanding of it. In prosecution of this
plan of the committee, I will occupy a few moments to explain, as succinctly
as the case will permit, some of the relations of the American governments,
and the condition of slavery as it exists under them. I am the more desirous
of doing this,because I have noticed in the Anti-slavery and other publications
of this country, much of perplexity and misapprehension arising out of, what
must appeal- to strangers, our complicated governmental machinery. The
American Colonies, (in 1778) soon after they had declared themselves iudepeu-
dent of the mother country, established a general form of government, known
as the Articles of Confederation. This continued during the remainder of the
revolutionary struggle, and till the adoption of the present constitution. The
Articles of Confederation conferred no power on the Confederation to abolish
slavery, or to interfere with it in any way. Slavery remained wholly under
the control of the several state governments, under the sanction of which it
existed. Under the confederation, the general government possessed, no terri-
tory over which it had an exclusive authority. The confederation, as it seemed
to the most judicious of our statesmen, did not possess power enough to bring
the country into united action on any of the great objects of government. It
gave way in 1787 to the present constitution. The powers of the geueral
government are those, and only those which have been specifically conferred by
the people who, by their representatives instituted it ; and such as are necessary
and proper to carry out the specific grants of power. Other powers have been
couferred by the people on their respective state governments. If then, there
are powers (such as are exercised by governments generally) not conferred on
either the general governments or the state governments, they are considered
as still reserved by the people, the source of all governmental authority. There
was no power granted to Congress (the national legislature) to legislate in any
way for the abolition of slavery within the states. The power to abolish slavery
withiu the states is either possessed by the state legislature, or
reserved it to themselves. Where the latter is the case, as foi
State of Kentucky, it would be necessary, iu order to abolish slavery, that
the people should authorise the holding of a Convention (of which they them-
selves would be the immediate constituents) with a view to the exercise of that
power by the Convention itself, or to the conferring of the power on the ordi-
nary legislative body. Congress, however, now possesses powers in relation to
slavery which it did not possess under the confederation. It has " power- to
exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatever over such district as may
by cession of particular states become the seat of government of the United
States." This "cession" was made by Maryland and Virginia, aud the « district"
of Columbia has " become the seat of government of the United States." Con-
gress possessed no power at the time of the " cession" to permit the continuance of
slavery in the ceded district. Indeed, it had uo power under the constitution to
authorize the continuance of slavery for a moment after the district came under
its control. No such power was granted to it, nor is slavery necessary orproper
for carrying into effect any of the specific, grants of power ; i
direct opposition to the great object and principles of the u] '

ie have

>n. To

107

" justice" was one of these objects : Slavery is a violation of justiee. Congress
now has the power, as every one will see, of immediately abolishing slavery in
the district of Columbia. That it does not exereise this power for the enlarge-
ment of the six thousand slaves at the door of the capitol is the standing dis-
grace of my country. Again : Congress lias " power to dispose of and make
all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory belonging to the
United States." Congress had, and still has, immense territories under its
eontrol. Louisiana was purchased from Franee. Slavery existed in Louisiana
when the purchase was made. Its eontinuance was provided for by the
treaty of cessiou ; thus, by a side-wind, setting aside the constitution of the
United States, which gives to Congress no such power. The States of
Louisiana, Arkansas, and Missouri, earved out of this territory are slave
holding states. Cougress had the power to abolish slavery within them whilst
they had only a territorial existence and relation to the general government.
It had also the power to refuse them admission to the union as states, when
they made application, with their slavery-tainted constitutions in their hand.
Congress, also, possesses "power to regulate commeree among the several
states." Under this power, Congress has not put a stop to the large traffic
that is carried on from one part of the country to another in human beings.
The slave-holders say it is not authorized to do this, under the provision just
mentioned, beeause the power to "regulate" is not the power to abolish. This
is true, as an abstract proposition ; but is the prohibition of a particular article
of eommeree— even allowing that human beings can justly be considered such
an article— the abolitiou of eommeree 2 Large as is the trade carried on in
slaves, they constitute but a small item, when the proeeeds from the sale of
them are compared with the avails of the numberless other articles whieh
unite to make up commerce among the states. The conclusion to which these
eases lead us, is, that Congress has, in some instances, gone beyond its constitu-
tional powers, and established slavery ; but that it has wholly failed to exert
the powers conferred upon it for the abolition in any way of slavery, or
the domestie slave-trade. Let notjhe fathers of our constitution be indis-
criminately eharged with desiring to continue slavery to the present time.
There are, it is true, several provisions of the constitution whieh have relation
to slavery ; but none of them are inconsistent with emancipation in any form,
either gradual, prospective, or immediate. The guilt of not having aeted
must rest on onr legislators, because of their want of will, not of power, to do
what was called for by the spirit of the constitution, the dictates of natural
justice, and the expectation of the civilized world ; Washington and
Franklin, and the most veuerable of our constitutional fathers, were in favour
ofthe abolition, the total abolition, of negro slavery. They erred, however, in
preferring union to its abolition. It was the wish of a majority of the Con-
vention which framed the constitution, that negro slavery should eventually
disaj>pear from the United States. It was with this view, that they eonferred
on Congress the power to put an end to the Afriean slave-trade at the eud
of twenty years. It would not have been further tolerated at all, had it not
been for the opposition made by the states of South Carolina and Georgia, to its
immediate abolition. These states refused to become members of the union, if
the African slave-trade should be at onee eut off. The temi for which it was
tolerated was allowed on their aecount. Fatal allowanee ! We are now reaping
the bitter fruits of it— of what must have seemed, at that time, a very small
saerifiee of prineiple to expediency. But it was thought that this would not

much interfere with the eventual abolition of slavery. There was no great
staple cultivated exclusively by slaves to make them and their labour valuable.
Cotton was hardly kuown at this time as an article of exportation. Rice
and Indigo were comparatively of small importance. The ordinary products
of slave-labour, were also produced by the free labour of some of the adjoining
states. This competition would soon have rendered slave-labour too expensive
to be permanently maintained. Beside this, the spirit of emancipatiou had
begun to show itself in several of the northern and middle states. Prin-
ciples utterly at war with slavery, were acknowledged and incorporated in
their written forms of government, aud they were beginning to be acted on
in many instances, in good faith. It might reasonably enough have been
anticipated, from the combined influences of the small value of slaves ; of
there being no staple to increase their value ; of the cessation of the African
slave-trade ; of the recognition of the principles of freedom in the several
state constitutions ; and of what had already been done in the way of actual
emancipation, that slavery would not very long be coutinued in the United
States. But all these causes of hope seem to have been nullified by the
invention of the cotton gin, by which the labour heretofore performed by a
thousand hands in preparing the cotton for use and for the market, was
performed by one. From that time (1793) slavery has been on the advance
in the United States ; and in proportion as the cultivation of cotton has
increased, the prospect of its abolition has seemed to become more and more
obscured, so far as the action of the government is concerned. It is true that
for the last twenty years, the slave-holding interest in the United States has
succeeded in bringing almost exclusively within its control the administratiou
of the general government. But that interest does not include the people of
the United States. The people of the free states want but knowledge of the
principles and measures of the abolitionists to put an end to its reign. The
prejudice which the slave-holders in the southern states, aided by their friends
in the northern states, were enabled to excite against the abolitionists, is
beginning to give place to a better feeling. The design of the slave-holders
to perpetuate slavery, and to sue the government of the country for that
nefarious purpose is, at last, beginning to be seen by the people of the free
states. They are beginning again to look on the odious features of slavery
anew presented to them, and to dread the interest that would fasten the
system on the country, as the most pernicious that can be entrusted with
power. They are it is true, only beginning thus to feel. But the slave-holder
is alarined even at these faint beginnings of adverse signs. He begins to writhe,
and in his torment to cry [out that the literature of the world, the public
opinion of the world, and all the moral influences of the world, are against
him and the iniquitous system which he seems determined to maintain though
the heavens should fall. In his desperation, he is striving to sustain himself
by remedies suited to the nature of his case. He is now attempting so to
act on the government of the United States, that it shall commit itself before
the world on broad principles, to the maintenance of southern slavery. With
this view the following resolutiou was passed by the senate of the United
States. " That if any ship or vessel is forced by stress of weather or other
unavoidable cause, into the port, and imder the jurisdiction of any friendly
power, she, her cargo, the persons on board, with their property, and all ihe
rights belonging to their personal relations, as established by the laws of the state
to which they belong, should be placed under the protection which the laws

109

of nations, under such circumstances, extend to the unfortuuate." The faets
which gave rise to this resolution are simply, that three American vessels,
freighted with slaves, and sailing from certain ports in the United States, to
certain ports within the same, were driven by stress of weather into the
Bermudas and Bahama islands, in two of the cases, before emancipation
had taken place in the British colonies ; in the third, after that event ; and
all the slaves had been set free by force of English law. The United States'
government, (although the slave-holders say it has no right to interfere in any
way on the subject of slavery), demanded of this government either that the
slaves should be delivered up to their masters, or satisfaction made for them
in money. The British government refused wholly to deliver up the slaves,
but paid the value of the two cargoes set free before the emancipation act had
taken effect, declining to pay for the third, on the ground that the British
government no louger recognized property in man. The resolution just read
proves that the slave- interest in the United States does not iutend to remain
quiet under the course taken by the ministry here. There was entire unani-
mity, too, in passing the resolution ; out of the thirty-two senators present,
not one being found to oppose it. Unanimous as they were, they certainly
did not expect to prevail on the eivilized nations of the world, just at the
time when a general movement is making toward the extermination of
slavery, to engraft a recognition of its rights (!) on the law by which their
intercourse is regulated; the thing that they have avoided attempting
when slavery was in its " palmy state." No : they wish as much as in them
lies to commit the government at home, so that it may be kept back
as much as possible from falling in with -the sentimeut of the other
nations of the world. The eommittee think, that this resolution of the
senate of the United States, ought to be made as public as our proceedings
can make it ; that all Europe ought to be admonished of the attempt. In
pursuance of this opinion, I now ask leave to submit the followiug preamble
and resolutions —

Whereas, in the year 1835, a eertain eargo of slaves was shipped
from one of the ports of the United States to another port within the
same ; and, whereas, the ship whilst performing the voyage was provi-
dentially driven on one of the British West India islands, and the said
slaves, of course, by the operation of British law, made free ; and,
whereas, the Ameriean government, on behalf of the persons claiming
said slaves as their property, demanded of the British government,
either that said slaves should be delivered up, or that remuneration should
be made to their pretended owners ; and, whereas, the British govern-
ment refused to eomply with the requisition for the delivery up of said
slaves, or with its alternative, and this on the ground that the British
government had eeased, on any part of its territory, to reeognize the
right of one man to hold property in the person of another ; and, whereas,
the slave-holding interest in the United States is attempting, in the
Congress of the United States, to stir up the American government to

no

resist the principle on which such remuneration was refused; and,
whereas, in the prosecution of this attempt, a resolution was recently
received in the House of Representatives of the United States, urgino
that government to insist on an arrangement with the British govern-
ment, by which slaves escaping from their masters in the United States
into the British dependencies on the American continent, should either
be delivered up to their masters, or a full indemnity paid for them ; and,
whereas, in the further prosecution of the said unjust object, the senate
of the United States, by a resolution passed in April Last, declared in
effect, that if an American ship or vessel carrying on the slave-trade
between any of the ports in the United States, should be forced
by stress of weather, or any other unavoidable cause into the port,
and under the jurisdiction of a- friendly power, she and her cargo,
and the persons on board with their property, and the rights belouging
to their personal relations, as established by the laws of the state to
' which they belong, ought to be placed under the protection which
the laws of nations extend to the unfortunate, under such eircum-
stances :— Wherefore, it is resolved,— as the sense of this Convention,
that the proposition embodied in said resolutions, to wit, to sustain by the
sanctions of public law, which are founded on the principles of natural
justice and right, the pretensions of the slave-system which exists only by
disregarding justiee and annihilating right, is not only unchristian and
absurd, but disrespectful to the common sense of mankind :— that this
the first attempt known in the history of nations, to convert the preten-
sions of slave-holders into rights, and as such to engraft them on the
system of public law, by which the intercourse of nations is regulated,
ought never to have emanated from the senate of a people, who, from a
period of time coeval with their independent national existence, have
asserted before the whole world, and in the most solemn manner, that
all men are created equal, are entitled to their liberty, and to the
pursuit of happiness :— that to allow such a proposition, would be not
less inconsistent with the honour and dignity of Great Britain, and of
such of the other nations of the world as have either abolished slavery
within their respective limits, or are in good faith proceeding so to do,
and is hostile to the avowed prineiples of tbat people among whom it
has originated, and to the cause of humanity, with which, under God,
all governments are solemnly charged.

Ill

I proceed to show the actual condition of the slaves of the United States.
They are wholly at the mercy of their masters. They cannot testify in courts
of justice in any case, civil or criminal, where a white is a party ; neither
can a free coloured person. And this disability is not confined to the slave
states, it is the law in the free states of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. The
slaves derive no rights from marriage. Even the mere form of marriage
is seldom observed in their case. The master can sell the wife and the
husband from each other at any moment, and the children from both.
They are denied all literary instruction. In most of the states, instructing
slaves or coloured people (even such as are free), in letters, is a penal
offence. The power of punishment on the part of the master is unlimited.
The law does not authorize this directly ; but as the slave cannot testify against
the master, and the latter has full power over the body of the slave, he may
remove him or her to a private place where no white person could see them,
aud perpetrate on the body of the slave whatever his passion or malice prompts
him to do. The slave has no civil rights. He cau possess nothing as property,
being property himself. He cannot sue for any trespass committed on his
person by any white. His master may sue, but would not generally recover
enough to carry the costs of the suit, unless he could make it appear that his
slave, was disabled from performing his usual amount of labour. Their reli-
gious instruction is almost wholly neglected. They have been declared by the
religious bodies, among whom they were, to be heathen, and in some respects,
heathen of the worst description. The slave-trade is carried on in the United
States to an enormous extent, and under circumstances of great cruelty. The
men are driven through the country, chained in double rows — the principal
chain running between them. To this they are fastened by lateral chains
when they start from the place at which they are brought together, after the
number intended to be purchased is made up. They are kept confined in this
manner day and night, till they reach the market at which they are to be sold.
Here they are offered, in lots or single, to the person, no matter who he is, or
where he may reside, who will give the highest price for them. The most
disgusting scenes are said to take place at these marts, when the slaves are
subjected to personal examination, to ascertain whether or not they are
sound in every respect. Medical men are said sometimes to lend themselves
to this brutal work. In the Uuited States we need every influeuce that can
properly be used, both external and internal, to bring this system to an end.
I fear if we cannot be brought under the former, our case is a hopeless one ;
with it, success is certain. Let Great Britain see that justice is done to
the emancipated in the "West Indies, let them be seen to prosper, as there
is no doubt they will, if they be fairly dealt by ; let her continue to hold out
to the world the noble example of refusing to recognize as au independent
power the Texans, as long as they persist in their warfare against the
peace and repose of the coloured race. Let France thus be encouraged to
imitate the example of this country. Spain cannot but soon follow ; so also
the other states who uphold slavery in the "West Indies. The two millions of
coloured people in the West Iudies being made free, protected by equal laws,
encouraged in improvemeut by just aud paternal governments, seen to be
prosperous aud happy ; the three millions in the United States will soon be
enabled to swell the chorus, and join in the jubilee of freedom.

Sir EARDLEY WILMOT, Bart., M.P.— I rise to second these resolutions •

112

with tlie highest pleasure and satisfaction ; and if I had wanted anything, to
induce me to assent to the request of the honourable gentleman near ine, to
'second them, it would he that most satisfactory feeling of being an Englishman
to second an American, on an American question. I shall not detain you by
a speech, or by entering into subjects which will be treated so much better by
an honourable member who is to rise just after me. I may say, however, that
I think slavery a most grievous wrong, and that I am as anxious as you ail to
nut an end to it. Allow me to speak on an insignificant subject-that is
mvself Dnring the period I have been in Parliament, from the time when I
opposed the apprenticeship sy S tem,to the time when I placed the government
in a minority of three on the Jamaica bill ; and, the yet more recent time,
when I resisted them on the Hill Coolie question, I havebeen hearty m your
cause, and shall deem it my greatest honour to be a participator in your holy
stiWe I shall always consider those occasions the proudest periods of my
life, when I am able to aid you in the noble object you have in view._

Mr. O'CONNELL.-I beg respectfully to offer two excuses for intruding
mvself upon the meeting. The first consists in what has fallen from the
honourable baronet, than whom a more sincere or zealous friend to the cause
of abolition never existed, nor a more useful one He said he was glad as an
Englishman, to second the motion of an American. I wish to intrude an
X u^on you. The second excuse is, that the mover of the question,
Se Zourable gentleman who has just sat down, has stated that it involves
nrincinles of universal and international law,both being commingled. Giveme
leave, then, as a lawyer of some experience, as my experience may ^compen-
sate for my want of talent, to say something. I entaely agree with him, that
he 2tL of the American senate is inadmissible It is an outrage on
Pnmmon sense • it is a violation of public honesty. They claim a property m
,Ln I Why that is inconsistent with not only all constitutional law, and
Xeir own constitution ; but above all, with the eternal principles of jus ice
Sow Culd they like that the blacks should do unto them as hey delight to
doTnte the blacks 1 I have not the heart to wish any man a slave, but real y
I am tempted almost to do it for once, and wish CUlho™ a slave. It won d
not, perhaps, be an inappropriate retribution for his mfamous djspo^tionte
V ™;ti, tniuqtice ininuity, and inhumanity, to subject him to the lasn
ScfneToSlnS on others. Oh: how indignantly^ and pathe
tioaUv he would plead on behalf of his outraged nature ! Why, some of
you may Zllert the case of the American Ahams, who having £ n
i * ;-n Afi-inn the dark swarthy natives said he was ouly fit foi a slave ,
hfwas i£Sl^££ to thei race ; the whites were good for notlung
hut slavery to which he was consigned for four years, amongst the Moors.
He walxan Led for a small sum, so little did the Africans think a
lie was icuiBum scarcely speak English, and had

^Lri^oflSeris?. 6 C So Ul you C see how^he i^ejvould work if
SaSy a^phed. The proposition of CUxhott* s untenable even as an
American proposition. The resolutions of our friend set forth its incon-
i"en y with P the first clause of the American Charter of Impendence
sistency w fa jg a gtl . onger wor a ; it

iSeslTl l£ CeThe same «»* right to life, liberty, and the

113

themselves together. Each state was to have a separate government, with
the power of taxing, and making laws, binding as to life and death. They wore
bound together by one great confederation, one ruling power over the entire
having particular functions given to it. That great charter (the declaration
of American independence) commences by declaring emphatically, that all
men are bom equal, and all have an inalienable right to life, to liberty, and to
happiness. It is not confined to the white man, to the mulatto, or to the
black, or to any particular order. It is not, of course, limited to any sect or
- creed, to any caste or nation ; but it is a solemn declaration, that all axe born
equal, and that all are alike entitled inalieuably to life and liberty. There is
the sacred basis of the American constitution. And from this spot, I wish to
rouse all the high and lofty pride of the American mind. Republicanism
necessarily gives a higher and prouder tone to the human mind than any
other form of government. I am not comparing it with anything else at
present; but all history shows there is a pride about republicanism, which,
perhaps, is a consolation to the republican for' any privations he may suffer'
and a compensation for many things in which he may possibly be inferior •
but from this spot, I repeat, I wish to rouse all the honesty and pride of
American youth and manhood ; and would that the voice of civilized Europe
would aid me in the appeal, and swell my feeble voice to one shout of honest
indignation, and when these Americans point to their boasted declaration of
independence, exclaim, "Look at your practice ! " Can there be faith in man,
or reliance placed in human beings, who thus contrast their actions with
then- declarations ? That was the first phrase of their boasted declaration of
independence. "What was the last.!— «To these principles we solemnly pledge our
lives,"(mvokmgthenameofthe greatGod,and calling for his aid)«we solemnly
pledge our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honour." It has the solemnity
without the profaneness of an oath ; it speaks in the presence of the living
God ; it pledges life, fortune, and sacred honour to the principles they assert
How can they lay any claim to "sacred honour," with this dark, emphatic, and
diabolical violation of their principles staring them in the face ! No • America
must know that all Europe is looking at her, and that her senate, in'declarino-
that there is a property in human beings, has violated her oath to God and
"sacred honour" to men. Will the American come down upon me then
with his republicanism ! I will meet him with the taunt, that he has mingled
perjury with personal disgrace and dishonour, and inflicted both with a
double barb into the character of any man who claims property in any human
being. France, and even England, might possibly adopt such a resolution
without violating their national houour, because they have made no such
declarations in their constitutions as America, and therefore she is doubly
dyed in disgrace by the course she has taken, in open opposition to her own
charter of independence. But there would have been the same violation of
principle in England, had she acceded to the resolution of the American
Congress. I feel proud to say, that they may pass and adopt as many such
resolutions, and press them as long as they please, and the entire fifty-two
senators may vote for them too ; but they will be all idle, all useless all
inefficient, because the British government has no power to acquiesce in any
one of them. The British government has no funds out of which to grant
compensation. Aud, I believe, no party in the state would ever propose a
grant for such a purpose; neither the party with whom I have the honour to

114

vote, nor the party supported by the honourable baronet The resolution is,
therefore, perfectly idle. England has nobly paid twenty millions ft, the
purpose of redeeming the slave from bondage ; and, now, wherever he flag
ofour gracious Queen floats upon the breeze, there is glorious freedom
ttei-ralfmen are free. The moment the foot of a bondsman touelies the
shore of England, or any of her dependencies, his slavery vanishes, ihere is
now no such thing known to the British law, as that one man may have a
property in his fellow-man : there is an act of Parliament against sueh a erime.
It hasoflenbeen laid down, that an act of Parliament whieh , is notoriou y
against justice and humanity, is void. I am afraid, however, that in ^raetice
that maxim is not always cared for. But no man, not one of any paity
whatever, would dare to eome down to the House of Commons and propose
a grant for the purpose of making compensation to the ^ American slave-
holders. If one could be found of any party whatever to do it, he would be
shouted down and seouted from soeiety. The British minister could no more
enter into a bargain with the Ameriean senate for that purpose, than he eould
transfer one of the English eounties over to the Ammica* P^siDENxand
give him iurisdietion over Yorkshire or Kent. It is impossible ; it eanno
be done, because it is totally ineonsistent with our law, and with mtfflnabonal
law too! For almost all the states of Europe have now admitted slavery
to be a crime. It has been admitted in France, and the eause of abolition is
deeply indebted to the exertions of the gentlemen now with us from that
country, and whose presenee I look upon as a pledge, that he question of
negro emancipation shall not remain where it is. (Mr. 0>Co*x**l here
trfluded to Moksieuh Isammut, member of the Chamber of Deputies, and
others who were present as a deputation to the Convention). That
cause is in progress, and I trust, that the Freneh will realize the proudest
expectations that ean be entertained of their chivalrous love of honour
and glory, in this enterprize of humanity and philanthropy ; I think the
French will not suffer themselves to be inferior to any other nation in this
cause I wish to see no rivalry between us, except rivalry to do good;
it is a glorious rivalry, and although we may now good-humoredly taunt
them, and say, "You have not gone so far in the glorious work as ^ we ; 1
trust the day is not far distant, when our French neighbours may rem-n the
taunt, and say, "We have gone before you now, and done better. Well
then, the government have not the power to pay the compensation, unless
indeed they agree to do so out of their own pockets, by a elub of their
salaries,-a thing that is not very likely. How, then, is it to be paid?
There is one way in whieh it can be done, that is, by a vote of the House of
Commons. I should like to see the minister who made the proposition.
Never would any proposition get sueh a scout as that ! The senate of America
have, in their excessive desire to put forward a wieked prmeiple,an abomi-
nable claim, a horrible injustice, overshot their mark, and defeated their own
purpose. Nothing will they get but dishonour and detestation ; for it is
utterly impossible that their proposition ean be carried into effect. No man
shudders at the thought of war more than I do. You hate a robber ; you
hate a murderer ; but war, in its best form, is accompanied by thousands of
robberies and murders. If anything eould justify a Christian man m going to
war, it would be to oppose sueh an unjust prineiple as this ; and those who do
not feel so strong a moral detestation of war as I do, would, perhaps, go so

115

far iu resisting such horrible injustice ; but I hope that we shall be spared
any necessity for an appeal to physical force. I rejoice to hear the present
agitation is striking terror into the hearts of the slave-mougers, whose selfish
interests, vile passions, and predominant pride, with all that is bad and
unworthy commingled, make them willing to retain their hold of human
property, and to work with the bones and blood of their fellow-creatures ■
whilst a species of democratic aristocracy, the filthiest aristocracy that ever
en ered into civilized society, is set up in the several states, an aristocracy that
wishes to have property wifliout the trouble and toil of earning it, and to set
themselves above men, only to plunder them of their natural rights, and to
live solely upon their labour. Thus, the gratification of every bad passion
and every base emotion of the human mind, is enlisted iu defence of the
slave-holders right. When we turn our eyes upon America, we see in her
haughty declaration of independence, the display of the demonic elements
of popular feeling against every thing like tyranny or oppression. But when I
fZll ^ di8trict 1 0f Coliunbia, there I see in the capital and temple- of
fieedom, the negro chained to his toil, and writhing beneath the lash of his
task-master, and the n egress doomed to all the horrors of slavery There I
see their infant, yet unable to understand what it is that tortures its father or
detracts its mother ; while that mother is cursing its existence, because it is
not a man, but a slave ; and almost wishing-oh ! what a wringing thouo-ht to a
mother's heart-that the childmightsinkinto an earlygi-ave,ra?he? thanoecome
tne property of an excruciating tyrant, and the instrument of wealth to others
without bemg able to procure comfort and happiness for itself. That is America •
that is the land of the free ; these are the illustrations of the glorious principles
laid down in the declaration of American independence I These evils, inflicted as
they are by the democratic aristocracy of the states, are worse than ever were
inflicted by the most kingly aristocracy, or the most despotic tyranny I do not
mean any thing offensive to our American friends present, but I do say, there
is written in letters of blood upon the American escutcheou, robbery and
murder, am , pl under of human beings. I recognize no American as a fellow-
man, except those who belong to Anti-Slavery Societies. Those who uphold
slavery are not men as we are, theyare not honest as we are ; and I look upon a
slave-holder as upon a pick-pocket, who violates the common laws of property
and honesty. They say, that by their Constitution theyare prevented from
emancipatingtheslavesin the slave-holdingstates j but I look in the Declaration
of Independence, and the Constitution of 1787, and I defy them to find a sina-le
word about slavery, or any provision for holding property in man. No man can
deny the personal courage of the American people. With the recollection of the
batt es of Bunker's-liill, and Saratoga, of which, indeed, I might be reminded
by the portrait which hangs opposite to mo, of one of the officers who took an
active part in those conflicts (the Earl of Moira), with the recollection, Isav
ot those battles, it would be disgraceful and dishonest to deny to the American'
people, personal courage and bravery. There exists not a braver people upon
T,™Z 6artl1, But amon g st aU th °ae who composed the Convention
ot 1/87, there was not one man who had the moral courage— I was about to
say, the immoral courage-to insert the word slavery in the declaration. No >
they did not dare pronounce the word ; and if they did not dare to use the
word slavery, are they to be allowed to adopt the thing ? Is America to shake
her star-spaugled banner in the breeze, and boast of liberty, while she is

116

conscious that that banner floats over the heads of slaves I Oh hut they call
* it "persons held to labour," that is the phrase they use in then- documents
but dare any one say that slavery is implied in those words 1 The term applies
Jo any perso^ who enters into a contract to labour, for a given period a by
he montn or year, or for an equivalent ; but his doing so, does not constito to

they intended to have slaves, but they dared not employ the word^ ana
.'persons held to labour f was as near as they dared /PP; 0a0 ^° ^ Q f^Z

andthe Americans (Ispeak not of them all, there are ^ ^"^^
have added hypocrisy to their other accomplishments. I hesitate not to ilrng
fhTtoi of tnTs predicament upon proud America. They ^^IZ

the wisest statesmen, the most profound legislators in the woild. We are
ardent lovers of liberty, we detest slavery, and we lament that we have not
fte "oier to make all free : then I whisper, Columbia! Columbia! you
have'the power there, you have the authority there, to .^^^.
you have the means and opportunities; you have, in short ve^g ™
tortd; the wiU alone is wanting; and, with aH your pi f™* ™'?™ the
hypocrites. But I will now turn to a subject of congratulation : I meanthe

™b^^

honour oSng aXler witothese American abolitionists. In this country

™I wfi ™-oceed in our useful career esteemed and honoured ; but it is not so
tlr/Xlav^ry friends in America; there they are vilified, there , they -«
^suited Why, did not very lately a body of men-of prftaun so called-
rjersons wlJ'would be ang^y if you denied them that cognc ,mei 1 and ^wou d
pven be ready to call you out to share a rifle and a ball-did not such
T^tleLn" break in upon an Anti-slavery Society in America ; aye, upon a
Xs'Tnti-slavery Socfety, and assault '^;-;^lS
And did they not denounce the members of that society? And wneieu

117

this happen '—"Why, in Boston— in enlightened Boston, the capital of a non-
slavc-holding state. In this country, the abolitionists have nothing to complain
of; but in America they are met with the bowie knife and Lynch law ! Yes !
in America you have had martyrs ; your cause has been stained with blood ;
the voice of your brethren's blood crieth from the ground, and riseth high,
not, I trust, for vengeance, but for mercy upon those wbo have thus treated
them. But you ought not to be discouraged, or relax in your efforts. Here
you have ■ honour. A human being cannot be placed in a more glorious
position than to take .up such a cause under such circumstances. I am
delighted to be one of a Convention in whicli are so many of such great and
good men. I trust that their reception will be such as that their zeal maybe
greatly strengthened to continue their nohle struggle. I have reason to
hope, that in this assembly a voice will be raised which will roll back in
thunder to America, which will mingle with her mighty waves, and which will
cause one universal shout of liberty to be heard throughout the world. O
there is not a delegate from the Anti-slavery Societies of America but ought
to have his name, aye, and her name, written in characters of immortality.
The habits of this country have forbidden us from receiving female delegates,
because of the ridicule which some ignorant persons might have thrown upon
our proceedings ; but though we have not received them as delegates, are they
the less respected, or the less esteemed on that account 1 and, at my time of
life I may say, are they to be less loved ? Who does not remember Angelina
Grimke % and which of us does not owe her a deep debt of gratitude for her
exertions in the cause of abolition ? The Anti-slavery Societies in America
are deeply persecuted, and are deserving of every encouragement which we can
possibly give them. I would that I had the eloquence to depict their character
aright ; but my tongue falters, and my powers fail, while I attempt to describe
them. They are the true friends of humanity, and would that I had a tongue
to describe aright the mighty majesty of their great undertaking ! I love and
honour America and the Americans. I respect their great principles; their
untiring industry ; their lofty genius; their social institutions ; their morals,
such morals as can exist with slavery— God knows they cannot be many— but
I respect all in them or about them that is good. But, at the same time, I
denounce and anathematize them as slave-holders, and hold them up to the
scorn of all civilized Europe. "Why, even the American minister sent to our
English court is a slave-holder : whether he is not also a slave-breeder is a
disputed point, and one into which I shall not now enter. I would that the
Government of this country would determine to have no dealings with him,
and to tell the United States of America that they must send no more slave-
holding negotiators here ! I will tell you a little anecdote. Last year I was
accosted with great civility by a well-dressed, gentleman-like person in the
lobby of the House of Commons. He stated that he was from America, and
was anxious to be admitted to the House. " From what state do you come ?"
" From Alabama." " A slave-holder, perhaps?" " Yes." " Then," said I, " I
beg to be excused ;" and so I bowed and left him. Now, that is an example
which I wish to be followed. Have no intercourse with a slave-holder. You
may, perhaps, deal with him as a man of business, but even then you must act
with caution, as you would with a pickpocket and a robber. You ought to be
very scant of courtesy towards him, at least till he has cleared himself of the
foul imputation. Let us beware of too much familiarity with such men ; and'

118

let ns plainly and honestly tell them, as a Convention, what we think about
them. I am not for the employment of foree ; no— let all be done by the
statement of indisputable faets, by the diffusion of information ; by the
union of benevolent minds, by our bold determination to expose tyranny
and cruelty ; by proclaiming to the slave-holders that so long as they have
any eonnexion with the aecnrsed traffic in human beings, we hold them to be
a different raee. Why should it not be so ? Why should not we shrink from
them, as we would with shuddering, from the approaeh of the vilest reptiles ?
The declaration of sneh views and feelings from sueh a body of men as are
now before me, will make the slave-holders tremble. ' I know the bravery of
the American nation ; I honour the men who have struggled for their liberty,
and hail them as the most glorious brotherhood of man ; but with respect to
the slave-holding portion of them, we should condemn them as a degradation
to man, and as worthy only of contempt and seorn. My voiee is feeble : but
I have no doubt that what I say will reaeh them, and that it will have some
influence upon them. They must feel that they cannot inueh longer hold the
sway. One of the great objeets of my hope is to affright the Amerieans by
laying hold upon their pride, their vanity, their self-esteem, by commending
what is excellent in them, and by showing how very far they eome short in
those properties upon which they boast themselves. I would have this Con-
vention avail themselves of all sueh aids, and to urge them by every possible
argument to abandon the horrid vice by whieh their character is so foully
disfigured. The honourable and learned gentleman (Mr. Birney), who has
this morning addressed you, and who has himself set sneh a noble example
of independenee to the slave-holding world, has called our attention to
Texas. A few days ago I was favoured with a Texan newspaper. It most
eordially abused me. Yes, I was as well abused in it as ever I had been
in any paper in this country. I read with delight in it the statement, that
"that monster O'Conneix had been the means of preventing the English
Government from acknowledging the Texans." On reading that decla-
ration I took off my hat, and made a low bow, and said, " yon do me too much
honour, Mr. Texan." I would most eheerfully submit to any sueh attaeks in
so noble a eanse. No party in England, eall it what yon will, would dare to
acknowledge sneh a set of plundering knaves. Yes, they actually stole the
land, their rightful possession of which, they wished us to acknowledge, and
then they said it was likely to be lost, and so they took it ; jnst as a eountry-
nian of mine, who possessed himself fraudulently of an estate, said, that he
found the estate going astray. This Texan banditti put in the same plea.
They actually stole the land, and their first aet was to introduce slavery,
which had been abolished by the Mexican Congress ; and then they made a
law by whieh it is impossible for any one to stir the question of abolition for
a certain number of years ; and when those years expire, no person ean do so,
unless he has the authority of three-fourths of the people. This puts me in
mind of a story whieh is said to have happened in the days of ehivalry. A
eertain knight was senteneed to be plaeed on the top of a church, where he
was to remain for seven years. On the opposite end to him was plaeed a
sheaf of wheat, and in the middle a needle ; and he was to be fed with all the
wheat which the wind blew through the eye of the needle. This man had as
much chance of getting fat as any person has of obtaining the eonsent of
three-fourths of the Texans to coneur in the abolition of slavery. The first

119

acts of the robbers were to murder systematically all the Indiaus, and to
enslave all the Africans. Only lately, seven chiefs were iuduced by some
means to enter their towns, and they were all of them barbarously murdered.
They have deprived the Indian of his inheritance, and they have made a law
that no man who has Indian blood shall be possessed of any territory upon
pain of death. They may call me "monster," as long as they please ; but
while I have a tongue I shall call them foul robbers and murderers, and I will
never vote with any ministry for the purpose of recognizing them. I believe
that this Convention will do immense good by assisting to expose such men.
I think that the attempt to raise a Texan loan in this country will be scouted
by all the friends of humanity, whether Christians or Jews. The Texans
will have but little chance of raising money in our markets, after we have
thus exposed them ; after we have shown how their pretensions are based upon
cruelty and blood. I feel deeply grateful for the attention with which you have
listened to me. We have proof this day that there are those who love the cause
of freedom in every part of the globe. And why should it not be so ? Why
should not all unite in such a glorious cause ? We are all formed by the same
Creator j we are alike the objects of the same watchful Providence 5 we are
all the purchase of the same redeeming blood ; we have one common Saviour-
and our hearts beat high with the same immortal hopes. And why should any
portiou of the human race be shut out from our affection and regard ? If
auy of them bow not before the throne of the same God, and trust not in the
same Bedeemer, and are not cheered by the influence of the same hopes, the
fault is ours who have kept their bodies in bondage, and their minds in the
darkness of ignorance and superstition. But that it should be so in America,
where religion seems so greatly to prevail ! let a word go forth from this'
place that we do not deem them Christians,— by whatever name they are called,
whether Episcopalians, or Baptists, or Independents, or Methodists, or whatever
other name,— that we regard them not as Christians at all, unless they
cordially imite with us in this great work. We honour all that is really good
in America, and would have it all on our side in this glorious struggle— in
this holy cause . Let us unite and persevere, and, by the blessing of God, and
the aid of good men, freedom will, ere long, wave her triumphant banner
over emancipated America, and we shall unite with the whole world to rejoice
in the result.

Rev. E. GALUSHA.— All present must, I think, be sensible that
every American miuister, and every American citizen in this Conven-
tion, is placed, at this moment, in very peculiar and responsible circum-
stauces ; and that lie needs all that moral courage which has been
so highly commended by the honourable member of Parliament who has
just taken his seat. I trust, that I shall not be found deficient in that
essential qualification ; but I know not, when my vote shall be known in
America, but that I shall be charged with high treason. I speak not thus
because I regret that God has placed me in such responsible circumstances,
nor because I feel any reluctance to meet the consequences which may result
from my vote, be they what hey may. But I wish this Convention, I wish
the friends of humanity aud justice in this couutry,to know precisely upon
what principle I ground a vote, for giving which I may be traduced as a
recreant aud traitorous citizen in my own country. This Convention must
be aware, that the resolution reflects most seriously upon the Government of

J 20

my country; and I hail it with the more pleasure upon that account ; because
I think that the censure is deserved, and I hope that hy your unanimous vote
it will he justly, amply, and effectually inflicted. For a minister of the
gospel to take a position contrary to that of the government of his own country,
may he deemed hy some of the logicians of that country to he extremely
indecorous and presumptuous ; hut I wish it to he knowu, that the principles
upon which I act are of higher obligation" and paramount to all others. I am
called to act as I intend to do, hy the dictates of my own moral nature; by
principles sanctioned hy the revealed will of God, and written, as I trust,
upon the inmost tahle of my heart. As a minister whose husiness it is to
teach the precepts of Christianity, I hold it to he high treason against the
majesty of heaven, for any man, and especially for any Christian, to unite in
any act, or in any compact, which contravenes the priuciples of justice and
humanity. I hold, that as an American citizen, I am not called upon to he a
party to the violation of those immutable principles. A pledge is given mc in
our great national charter, that those sacred principles shall he carried out;
and I love that charter upon that account. But when I find the adminis-
trators of the government proving recreant to those principles ; when I find
them violating that charter, I feel hound to go hack to the principles them-
selves, and, that I may remain firm to those principles, I am willing even to be
charged with treason against that government, that I may not he guilty of
treason against my God. I throw myself therefore upon the justice of this
country, to which I trace hack the principles upon which the government of
my country is founded. I speak not now of civil power, hut of the great
moral principles which moved the hearts and souls of those great men who
first founded the Americau colonies, and planted there the tree of liberty, the
germ of which they brought with them from this land ; the embryo of which
had been nourished by British blood. It is to these principles that I cling ;
it is by these principles that I justify my vote. These are the principles
which are recognized in the sacred book, which says, " Honour the King,"
which may, I suppose, by a liberal construction, be rendered, " honour the
Queen ;" and when the principles of the Queen's subjects are conformable to
the dictates of God's word, I feel bound to honour both the people and the
Queen of the land, at the same time that I honour the King of heaven.
The resolution having been put from the Chair, it was carried

Mr. STANTON.— Having had some experience in addressing public Con-
ventions, and having found that as they approached the period of adjournment,
they are, like myself at present, much fatigued in body and in miud, I feel some-
what embarrassed in bringing forward any subject at the present stage of your
proceedings. I feel embarrassed also on account of the great importance of the
resolution I hold in my hand, involving in it so much which has to do with the
extinction of slavery in America. I feel my embarrassment increased, too, in
bringing forward this resolution after you have listened to the peerless eloquence
of the honourable and learned member from the Emerald Isle. I have great
pleasure in stating that the thunder of his eloquent denunciations has crossed
the Atlantic, careering against the blast as thunder goes, and has rolled along
the sides of the Alleghany mountains, aud sunk down into the valleys of the
Mississippi, where men sell their kind. Permit me to say to you, in the

language of one of your own poets, " hear me for my ei
you may hear ;" adding to it, if not poetieally, yet sin
believe. The resolution is as follows :—

se, and be silent that
a-ely, — that you may

That while the literature of Great Britain exercises so vast an
influcnee over the publie opinion of Ameriea, we deem it the duty of
British abolitionists, individually, as well as colleetively, to make syste-
matic efforts to secure a frequent, clear, and full expression of the
sentiments of the nation, through its leading religious, political, and
literary periodicals, on the subject of slavery, and the Anti-slavery
enterprise in the United States ; to fix the attention of the world on
the suecessful results of the West India emancipation ; and to spread
before the Ameriean public, evidence of the deep indignation of the
civilized world, against a slave-holding republic.

I wish, before I say any thing further, to add a remark or two in re-
ferenee to what has been said upon Mr. Birney's resolution, and the bearing
of the Ameriean constitution in referenee to slavery. We admit that at the
outset our forefathers siuned, in the eoustruetion of our eonstitution ; and we
admit that we, their sons, have sinned also, in earrying out its provisions. I
will make an exposition of one or two priueiples of the United States' eonsti- .
tution, as they bear upon slavery, and I shall take a different eourse to that
pursued by Mr. Birney, and shall show you what the government can do, and
what it ought to do direetly and indireetly, for the extinction of slavery. The
honourable member for Dublin has alluded to the distriet of Columbia. It is
true, that the Congress of the United States has not the power to abolish slavery
throughout all the states, but they have the power to do it in that distriet. It
may be asked what is the use of extinguishing slavery in a distriet which is
only about ten miles square, with but 7000 slaves ? I answer, the result would
be very important in its bearings. In the first plaee, before it eould oeeur, the
whole question of slavery must be diseussed, and all the various objections of
the slave-holders to emancipation must be met, and would be met, aud
eompletely answered. In my eountry, as in this, it is the habit to report the
speeches of our national legislators at length ; these reports are earned into
every part of the slave-holding states, where an Anti-Slavery advoeate eannot
venture without the eertain prospeet of destruction by Lynehlaw, or the more
summary jurisdiction of the bowie knife. Let a diseussion of this subject be
had in Congress, and all the reasons for immediate abolition would thus be
elearly stated ; arguments and faets would be brought home to the planter's
bosom, and, sooner or later, might operate upon his heart. Again, with regard
to the distriet of Columbia, uot only would abolition be the subjeet of
diseussion by the highest legislative body in the nation ; but by the abolition
of slavery in that distriet, that body would, in faet, say to the nation, that it
was a system whieh was not fit to live. It would be a declaration by the
highest authority in the land, that slavery ought to be extinguished in every
part of the states. It was with this result in his eye, that Senator Preston
of South Carolina, who strongly resembles the honourable member for Dublin
not only in personal appearanee, but also in his use of the argmnentum ad
Imminent, said, " We must resist the abolition of slavery in Columbia ;" and

122

why % " Because it is the gateway to the very citadel of American slavery."
On this ground, the American Congress has refused even to receive petitions
on the subject, in defiance of the right to petition ; in defence of which right,
when it was refused by the British crown, our fathers went into a seven years'
battle and to death, and thus, (I am an American, gentlemen, and you will
pardon me for saving so), wrung from it that independence which they
regarded as their birth-right. And yet this same free people, for five successive
sessions, have denied to the abolitionists this very right. It is admitted, that
Congress has power to exterminate this system in Columbia, and its abolition
there would tend powerfully to wash out that stain which now tarnishes the
American flag. Yes !

a While every flap of England's flag

Proclaims that all around are free,

From farthest Ind' to each blue crag,

That beetles o'er the westeru sea;

And yet, we scoff at Europe's kings,

While Freedom's fire is dim with us ;
And round our country's altar clings
The damning shade of slavery's curse."

And, again, Congress has the power, not only to abolish slavery in Commbia,
but indirectly to exterminate it in the several states of the union, by
abolishiug what is called the internal slave-trade among the states. It is
admitted generally, that Congress has the power to destroy this, the main pillar
of American slavery. I have called it the main pillar, but, if you will permit
me, I will vary the figure, and call it the jugular vein of the system, without
which it would cease to live. The northern states are the slave-breeding
states, while the southern states are the slave-consumers. The northern states
rear slaves, whom the southern states work into premature graves. The
north are the Congos and the Guineas of the extreme southern states. In
raising corn, hemp, and tobacco at home, the northern states do not need
slave-labour ; slavery, therefore, is made profitable there by raising men and
women for sale : and I will say in passiug, with regard to our ambassador in
this country, that while he is a slave-holder, if he does not also traffic in
human flesh, and is not a breeder of slaves, he is an exception to the great
mass of "Virginian slave-holders, and, I think it is incumbent upon him, to
prove that he comes within the exception, instead of the general rule.

Mr. O'CONNELL.— He denied that there is any such practice in America
as slave-breeding.

Mr. STANTON.— Then, I say, he is either too ignorant to represent the
American people in this couutry, or too dishonest ! Why, there lies now
before me a document from the press of his native state, which says, that in ^
the year 1835 or 1836, twenty inillious of dollars' worth of slaves were sold from
"Virginia to the other states. What ! Virginia not a slave-breeding state !
Why, she only raises a little hemp, and Indian corn, and scarcely more
tobacco than her slaves require to chew ; and how could she prosper, were it
not for her breed of human flesh 2 Now, what will be the effect of the exter-
mination of this iuternal slave-trade 2 Slavery is only made profitable in the
extreme southern slave-states, iu the cultivation of cotton, sugar, and molasses,
by driviug the negroes to labour beyond what human nature can bear, by
that brutal motive, the lash. The labour in the cotton plantations is so

123

e, that the slaves are, on an average, worked into their graves iu seven
years after they euter the field ; a system, which, if extended to all the nations
of the earth, would depopulate the world in a century. And how are these
dreadful vacancies in the ranks of humanity supplied I By recruits of slaves
from Virginia and the other breeding states. I will mention a fact, by way of
illustrating this, which was told me by a Baptist minister in the United States.
He said, that he had asked a slave-holder in Virginia, a member of a Baptist
congregation, whether he was not apprehensive that the slaves would rise in
insurrection against their masters and subdue them % The answer was, that
they did sometimes apprehend such a thing, but that God, in his providence,
had opened for them a safety valve in the extreme southern states, which
purchased their surplus slaves, and worked them off, once in seven years, and
thus prevented an explosion. I hesitate not, therefore, to assert, that if
Congress would take up the sword of constitutional power, and cut this
jugular vein, slavery would turn pale and die. It would fall by famine at
the southern eud, aud die of apoplexy at the northern end of the union. But
there is another way in which this may be accomplished ; namely, by the
admission of what are called free states to the union. At the period of
passing that renowned declaration, that all men are created equal, and are
entitled to equal rights, there were thirteen states in the union, of whom
six were free states, or just on the point of being free, and seven were slave-
states. Since the American confederacy was formed, thirteen other states
have been admitted to the union, eight of which were slave, aud five free
states. Thus the slave-holders have swelled their partisans in congress, both
as to senators and representatives. The original free states might have
prevented this. Yes ! like him of old, they have sold their birth-right, but,
like him, they have not obtained for it even a mess of pottage, for now those
slave states rule the nation with a rod of iron. But there is hope for freedom
even yet. In the north-westeru section of the republic, there is a splendid
country now rapidly filling up with the free population of the New England
states. This forms what is called the north-west territory, the land of which
is fertilized by majestic rivers, which steamers traverse for thousands of miles,
and which abounds in towns and cities. The emigrating population of the
New England states flows over, not iuto the slave-states, but into this district;
and now there are two territories, Wisconsin and Iowa, ready for admission
to the uuion. Other free states will soon be prepared for admission, and this
territory may, by and by, give the anti-slavery interest the preponderance ;
for the south has nothing wherewith to counteract it, but Florida, a land of
swamps and Indians. "While we thus introduce new free states, they have no
other slave-states to introduce ; and, therefore it is, that Texas, urged on by
theh- influence, wishes for admission to the union. These far north-western
regions are rapidly populating, and, unless Texas is admitted to the union,
the slave-holding states may soon lose the balauce of power. It may be said;
is this your situation in America ? I answer, it is even so. Our case is one
of great difficulty. The general government has no power to aboKsh slavery,
but in the way of which I have spoken ; and, in some senses of the word,
our case is hopeless. We have the power to alter the constitution, in order to
abolish slavery, but to accomplish that will require the assent of two-thirds
of the states. Hence we find it uecessary to rely much upon moral power ;
mid wL<!ii I speak of moral power, I do not meau to exclude political actiou ;
those political movements, especially, which may be considered as moral.

124

Hence, the importance of the resolution which I have the honour to submit
to you. We rely much upon external influences. The civilized world must
erect a wall of fire around America, which may melt down the hard heart of
the slave-holder. The abolitionists are feeble in numbers, but strong in
moral power ; and, thank God, we are growing in both these respects.
Therefore it is that we fall back for assistance upon the enlightened sentiments
of the civilized world. One influence, which we desire to bring to bear for
this purpose, is the literature of the world. We are, in America, a reading
people. It may not be paying a very great compliment to this country, when
I say that we read a great deal more than the English. I have travelled
from Torquay to London, and have scarcely seen a newspaper : while in
America I should have seen a thousand in that space. Every body reads
there ; every Americau is a politician ; all have titles to nobility ; every body
is heir-apparent to the throne. We are, therefore, politicians, almost from
necessity. Every mechanic, has his "summary," and every gentleman his
* broad sheet :" the summary is to be seen in every workshop — the broad sheet
in all the saloons of our aristocracy ; for wc have our aristocracy, even in
America. I take pleasure in saying, that the fountain-head of our literature
is Great Britain. It is from the land of Shakspeare and of Milton, of Locke
and of Newton, of Pope and of Scott, of Robertson and Mackintosh, that
wc gather many of the gems which sparkle in our literary diadem. We come
to England, and say, give us an anti-slavery literature. I have already
spoken of the effect of British literature generally upon America. Such is also
the case with our theology. Our theology is that of Howe and Baxter, of
Taylor and Tillotson, of Wesley and Doddridge : we get it from you, take
heed, therefore, that it be pure. Our law is derived from that of your Coke
and Blackstone, and others, down to Mansfield, who made judicially the
glorious decision, that the moment a slave sets his foot upon British ground,
that moment he is free. Our histories, also, are from England, from Hume to
Mackintosh. Thus, of every branch of literature and science. But we find
it necessary to set up an expurgatorial inquisition, and to re-publish, so as to
suit our pro-slavery habits and prejudices. Doubtless you have all heard of
Tyler's history. In re-publishing it in America, it was found necessary, in
consequence of some unpleasant reminiscences concerning liberty and
revolutions, which it awakened in the minds of slave-holders, to get up an
expurgated edition of it. An edition of Tyler, tabooed and expurgated, was
published, and it sold well. Again, the Rev. J. H. Hinton published a history
of the United States of America ; an edition of this was re-published in
America by a firm, which the moment a work from England arrives, puts it
into the hands of their compositors, and sends the sheets flying over the whole
of the United States. Well, over came this history of Mr. Hinton's, which
was circulated by these publishers in the usual manner. But it was not long
before these gentlemen found letters upon their counters from their customers
in the southern states, informing them that they must expect less of their
custom if they sent to them such works as that. The reason was, because
Hinton's work states the fact, that two millions and a half of human beings
are unjustly held in bondage in America. An edition therefore was got up,
expurgated from all those faults. The politics and the oratory of America
are derived from Eugland. It is upon those great principles which, previous
to the revolution, had struck so deep, and risen so high, which arc to be
deduced from the writings and speeches of your Chatham, and those other

125

distinguished men who then enlightened the British senate, and which had made
the hearts of Americans burn within them, that the polities of America were
founded. Prom the days of Hampden to those of Burke, the eloquence of
the British senate has found attentive listeners in America. The uoble
denunciation of the Indian scalping knife, by Chatham, has not only thundered
in the British senate, but in every city and hamlet in America. And, even
now, in Boston, the denunciations of American slavery by O'Connell, are
repeated with enthusiastic plaudits. British eloquence, therefore, is the
eloquence of America. But the exclusion and expurgation of which I have
spoken, is not confined to, what may be called, the higher departments of
literature. A book was published in this country, entitled "Woods and
Fields," by Howitt, a pretty little unpretending volume ; but even that was
tabooed in America, because it contained some lines declaring that man was not
born to be a slave. You have all, no doubt, read Pollok's " Course of Time,"
that volume also was condemned, because it was found to contain certain
sentiments in favour of freedom, and, therefore, would never do to sell in the
southern market. The new play of " Love," was performed at New York, and
in other theatres of the states ; but because in the course of that play,
Sheridan Knowles impliedly denounced slavery, it was expurgated ; for they
could not bear even a mimic representation of freedom. Dr. Bowring's
"Minor Morals" shared the same fate, the chapter on slavery being omitted.
But there is another portion of your literature, by which you may reach the
public mind in America, and which is not likely to be expurgated ; I mean your
English Reviews. The Westminster, the Edinburgh, the Quarterly, and other
Reviews published in this country, are read by thousands in the United States.
There is one house in America which has ten or twelve thousand subscribers
for such Reviews, and the subscribers stipulate that they shall be printed
entire. An article in one of them, by Miss Martineau— the Martyr Age —
excited so great a sensation there, that the publishers were obliged to apologize
for its insertion ; still, the article was read, and read in the southern states. In
those states a man must run the gauntlet, if he be suspected of entertaining
anti-slavery principles. Such a man if he goes into the south, professing the
sentiments of Rush, of Jay, of Franklin, and even of Washington, and
attempting to speak of their application to things as they are, must almost take
his winding sheet with him. But it is not so with books and periodicals ; these
publications will be read. The slave-holder may feel disturbed in his mind
while reading, and may put the book down ; but he thinks, Why, it is only a
book ; he feels some shame at being disconcerted, and he takes it up again and
reads it through. Thus our principles may strike into their hearts. Thus the root
groweth downwards, the branch springeth upwards, and spreadeth wide s and
glorious fruit is borne. We call upon you, therefore, in behalf of the American
abolitionists, to saturate your literature with anti-slavery principles. Let the
conductors of your religious periodicals bear this in mind. And we ask the
newspaper press also, which, though of less importauce, is read in America, to
assist in this great work. If this be done, if Great Britain will unite her
literary with her moral and political power, we shall have a three-fold cord
around the odious system, and with " a long pull, a strong pull, and a pull all
together," down will come slavery in America, as, by the application of similar
means, it was brought to destruction in the West Indies. You have heard
that the Americans are a combative nation. Time, they arc a brave, a
courageous people, they can resist tyranny and oppression, but moral power

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they cannot resist; and they will not be able to resist the combined influence
of the literature and religion of this country. This is our last hope. I speak as
one who has stood up against slavery amidst strife and opposition, in company
■with brave men who have bared their bosoms to the storm in defence of their
principles. "We fall back for assistance upon British sentiment, upon English
literature, and our common Christianity. Send forth your publications send
out your anti-slavery delegates. I have longed to take by the hand, your
O'Connell, your Buxton, your James, your Clakxson, and your other noble
men, and I now call upon such to reach forth their hands in our support, and to
cheer us on. To be an abolitionist in England and in America are very diffe-
rent things ; and, if I may be permitted to say so, but few of your abolitionists
have stood fire on our side of the Atlantic. I do not wish to speak invidiously !
I sec one before me who did stand fire, (pointing to Mr. Geokge Thompson) —
who stood fire bravely. But we have had visits from men of high pretensions,
and of loud-sounding titles, of whom we have been compelled to say, " save
me from my friends !" Send us not so much, great men, as bold men and true;
and, I add, send us a purified, a vivifying literature ; a literature instinct with
the principles of freedom. Let it come in your magazines, your reviews, your
newspapers, your books : — let all speak of freedom. Thus shall we reach the
ears of men whom the voice of the American abolitionist cannot reach. Thus
shall we convince their judgments, until they shall acknowledge the truth
of our principles, and unite with us in their dissemination, and then slavery

On the motion of Mr. Phillips, the Convention adjourned.

THIRD DAY'S SITTINGS, MONDAY, JUNE 15, 1840.

(AFTERNOON).
Dr. GREVILLE in the Chair.
Mr. PHILLIPS, on being called upon by the Chairman, observed : —
In seconding the resolution proposed by Mr. Stanton, previously to the
adjournment, I have but a fact or two to add to the statements which have
been made by Mr. Stanton, and, as he has gone through the ground so
thoroughly, it is not necessary to detain the Convention any length of time.
"What I wish to call the attention of those present more particularly to,
is, the fact of the southern portion of the union being shut against all the
efforts of the abolition press ; and the north itself has also laid an embargo
upon all anti-slavery proceedings. If any thing issues from the anti-slavery
society of New York, what becomes of it ? Why it dies there. They could
not even persuade any of the great leading newspapers of the north to insert
their publications, or the facts they stated with respect to the West India
experiment ; and it is utterly impossible for many of those present to imagine
the ignorance that pervades the northern public with respect to the question
of slavery ; and in spite of that ignorance they will not be instructed. Though
there is no room in any portion of the American press for the advocacy of the
slavery abolitionists, or the statements of their proceedings, yet full latitude
is given to the distorted calumnies of the Jamaica press. There is, in act,
no attention paid to anti-slavery publications in the United States, with
the exception of some of the slave-holding portion of the community, who

127

occasionally allude to them, because their feelings are harrowed up by them,
and they arc told truths which they do not like and cannot deny. Now, in
order to show the manner in which anti-slavery publications are treated, I
will mention a case which occurred in Boston. Mrs. Child, who must be
known to all present by her literary productions, told me that her anti-slavery
works were refused a place in one of the public libraries of that city. The
permission also, before kindly afforded her, to make use of that public institu-
tion, after the publication by her of a few volumes .on abolition, was withdrawn.
Her volumes have been thrown from the window by one high in office in
Massachusetts. Several similar cases have taken place in other parts of the
United States, and the fact is, that unless some different course is adopted, the
Anti-Slavery Society may just as well bottle up their publications, and place
them under the corner stones of the great buildings in America, as attempt
to give them circulation through the whole community of the United States.
Their voice is only a whisper, which is drowned in the discussion of parties.
Mr. O'Connell this morning alluded to England's flag floating in every sea, and
to her influence being felt in the remotest parts of the world. I agree with that
honourable gentleman in all that he has stated, upon this important subject;
and, I trust, that this country will make its voice heard in America, in behalf of
those who are in bondage there. I wish England to express her approbation of
the manner in which the cause has been carried on in America. We are
often asked there, why we have not agitated the anti-slavery question in
America, as Wileerfoiice did in England 2 "We are doing so, and all we wish
is, that the English people, through the press, should state that wc are doing
so, as that will effectually silence the malice of those who call the advocates
of the abolition of slavery, fanatics. When I return to America, and tell
them that I have seen the white man and the black man walk arm in arm, I
shall not bo believed. Why ? Because I am an abolitionist. I wish to have
it recorded by the British press, that the coloured man is to be received in
the^ same manner as the white ; that they are to be considered as brothers,
deriving life and health from the same beneficent Creator. That is the
principle, and the time principle of the abolitionist, the man who is so despised
and so little heeded in America. All the publications of the Anti-slavery Society
are discarded in America ; and I will venture to say, that even the tract of
Mr. Weld will not be read by one in a thousand persons in America. But if
these things are only noticed in the Edinburgh, and some of the other publi-
cations of this country, they will be read in America with the greatest avidity.
Allusion has been made to the East India question, and it has been said that
we should strike off the shackles of the slaves, by appealing to the slave-owners'
pockets. That may be all very well, but there is something more required
than that. There must be an appeal to his conscience ; he must be persuaded
that the slave is a brother, and that Ms duty towards his God, his duty
towards man, forbid him to deal in humau blood aud flesh. The object is not
merely to compel him to throw off the slave as a burden, but to make him
recognise the rights of humanity, to welcome that slave to his side, to civili-
zation and Christianity as a brother beloved. Such is the object of the Anti-
slavery Society ; such is the object of those who advocate its principles. Their
wish is to raise the slave to a level with his fellow-man. They wish to do this
by education, and also by exciting the sympathy of Christians iu his behalf.
This^ is only to be effected by the expression of the public sentiment : the
religious public sentiments of England in their behalf. To show again the

spirit which exists in America against those who advocate the abolition of
slavery, I may just mention that the Emancipator, a publication, the object of
which is to be known from its name, has frequently been returned from tho
south to the north, because the post-master would not send it forward ; and
such is the height to which prejudice is carried on this subject in America,
that if they are told in the pages of the Emancipator that such and such is the
case, they will not believe it, but will say, it is an auti-slavery lie. Bnt if
the same things are only told them by a portion of the British press, they will
believe every word of it. The fact is, although we have declared indepen-
dence of Queens and Parliaments, that we are yet in contented vassalage to
the genius of the mother country. The anti-slavery cause has eloquent and
devoted men among its champions, but their countrymen will not listen.
England alone, by her religion and literature, can draw round the conscience
of every slave-holder who boasts, " that Chatham's lauguage is his native
tongue;" a magic circle like the Boman herald of old, and say to him,
" thence thou shalt not pass, till the spell be broken by the shout of eman-
cipated men."

Mr. STANTON.— Before the question is put from the Chair, I wish to
state two or three facts, to show the palpable ignorance which exists in
America, as to the proceedings of those who are aiming to abolish slavery,
and as to the movements which have been made in the West India colonies.
It might naturally be supposed, that we should select our most ei
and intelligent men for senators and national legislators ; but in on
a senator of Connecticut of high character in the Congress, stated to a friend
of mine, that he did not know that Great Britain had emancipated the slaves
in her colonies. Another member of Congress, from the state of Ohio,
declared that he did not know that slavery had been abolished in the "West
Indies. Another gentleman, in the state of New York, a gentleman who
habitually read the newspapers of the day, and was so wealthy that he kept
a splendid carriage, and would scarce be seen walking even from his house to
an adjacent hotel, stated, while you were labouring to abolish the apprentice-
ship system, that the real question was, the experiment of emancipation
having proved a total failure in the "West Indies, you were now considering
the propriety of restoring the former order of things. I referred this morning
in my remarks on the literature of Great Britain, to the writings of Htjme
and of others, who are supposed to have been latitudinarian in their religious
principles. I alluded to them, not as approving of all their principles, but
as men, who in their writings have recognised the principles of freedom, and
whose works are extensively read in America ; and we say, let your literature,
be its religious character what it may, let it all be embued with anti-slavery
principles. The writings of Lord Brougham on the question of general
education have spread far and wide in our land ; let such publications recog-
nise our principles, and thus ignorance will be removed from the minds of
thousands. As things now are, the American people are very ignorant of
British public sentiment. "We have men who will argue cogently, and fight to
the very hilt, on our frontier in Maine, about a few pine logs, who are totally
ignorant of that glorious experiment which is exciting the admiration of
Europe, the emancipation of the negroes in the West Indies. Some natives
of the United States, two or three years since, visited the West Indies for
the benefit of their health ; and when they witnessed the results of emanci-
pation, aud the numerous advantages connected with free labour, they felt

129

invigorated in their inner man, as well as in their physieal powers ; they
noted down all they saw and heard, and when they returned they published
them. They were all ineontrovertible facts— facts as palpable as the peak of
Teneriffe — but they were not received because they were regarded as anti-
slavery fictions. Give us, theu, the declarations of your Dukes of Sussex,
and the writings of your Lords Broug-ham, and they will be reeeived.
Though we are a nation of demoerats, yet we are very fond of titles, and
we have our D. D.'s, and our LL. D.'s, our Honorables, and our Excellencies,
and opinions endorsed by great names and high souuding titles, will greatly
influenee even republiean America.

Mr. BBADBUBN. — I agree with my friend who has preceded me,
that great ignorance prevails in Amei-iea as to the proceedings and senti-
ments of those in this country, who advocate the abolitiou of the slave-trade
and of slavery. I doubt, however, if real ignorauce on these points is so
general as he has given you reason to suppose. Many know the truth well
enough, hut are not willing to aeknowledge it. They also know their duty in
the premises, but are not willing to do it. There are others, and it is
not a small class either, on our side of the water,— who have heard of, but
have not remembered, the doctrines and doings of the British abolitionists.
They have heard them explained often enough, and for the time being were
well enough satisfied of their soundness, but have straightway forgotten all
about the matter. They are much like a good old woman, with whom a meta-
physical friend of mine was wont to converse on the philosophy of sugar. He
used to tell her that sugar of itself was not sweet ; that that quality in it,
which we eall sweetuess, was but a certain sensation produced by the aetion
of certain partieles of matter, peculiarly organized, upon the nerves of feeling.
This explanation, when given, was always quite clear to the good woman ;
yet the very next time of meeting my friend, she would always exclaim,
" Well, I believe sugar is sweet, after all." To persons of this sort, the faets
aud opinions in relation to the anti-slavery enterprise, must needs be often
repeated, to he fully impressed on their understandings. And in no way
can this be more effeetually done, whether in respect of this, or of any other
elass of persons opposed to our eause through ignorance or otherwise, than
by the constant iteration and reiteration of those faets and opinions
through the medium of the numerous periodical and other publications of
Great Britain. It has beeu said, that iu Aineriea we are very fond of titles,
and that we have a vast number of D. D.'s. Perhaps it is so, and the preva-
lence of the latter may possibly be accounted for, from a simple fact. The
theology of America— I mean of the slave-holding part of the country— is
made to sanetion slavery, to teaeh, that slavery is an ordinance of God.
And need it he said, that a system of divinity whieh sanctions such a com-
plication of abominations as that of American slavery, must needs he sick,
and therefore in need of doctors ? There are eertain points on which it strikes
me, if I may throw out the suggestion here, that the able Eeviews of this
country might enlarge with great profit to the cause in whieh we are engaged.
I refer to the gross iuconsistencies iu which slavery involves Amerieans. Let
their practiees be tried by their avowed theory ; the theory whieh is blazoned
forth to the world in the preamble of our deelaration of Independence.
That theory has been alluded to more than onee here to-day. Professedly,
ours is a republican government. And what is the great idea of a republic ? Is
it not this, that " governments derive their just powers from the consent of the

eoverned," and that they shcnild be administered for the benefit of the whole
neonle « Wherein does this differ from the idea of an autocracy ? Is it not
chiefly in this, that the head of an autocracy professes to derive his ; power to
eovern not from the consent of the governed, but directly from the
Almighty % The autocrat, not less than the republican owns that govern-
ment should be administered for the good of the public. I undertake to say,
that the autocracy of Eussia, in its practical operation, is not wider rf the
true idea of a republic, than is the government of our count ry Is it not,
indeed a mockery, to call that a republic, in which one-sixth of the popula-
tion are held in chains ? We have declared to the world, that « all men are
created equal ; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalien-
able rights ; that among these, are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness
This is our theory. What is our practice % We tread on the necks of nearly
three millions of men, and buy and sell them like brute beasts in the sham-
bles I have been told, that this horrible inconsistency was felt so forcibly
by one of our 4th of July orators, that on reading the declaration, he
attempted to get rid of it by a certain interpolation. « All men," said he "are
created equal, except Htggen." And this is probably the meaning attached
to the instrument by thousands who do not choose, like this 4th of July
orator to express the exception. Take another of our inconsistencies, we
have declared in the constitution of the United States, that there shall be no
abridgment of the freedom of the press. Yet we have not, practically, as you
have been told to-day, freedom of the press in America. Even m the national
legislature, a law was proposed, and passed one branch of it, to prevent the
circulation through the public mails, of all documents containing the self-
evident truths " of our own declaration of independence. The law proposed to
give power to postmasters, to rifle the mail bags, and commit such docu-
ments to the flames. And not only has the circulation of the productions
of the press in many parts of our country been prevented, and the pre-
vention attempted to be enforced by a law of Congress ; but presses them-
selvea have'beeu broken up with impnnity, at an expense too, m one instance
at least, of humau life. In such a state of things, what folly to pretend there
is or can be, « liberty of the press." Ours is claimed to be the only, or
almost the only country, in which perfect freedom of religious opinion is
enjoyed. We boast, that the pilgrim fathers of our land braved the
dangers of the broad Atlantic, and the still greater dangers of the then
savage wilderness of the western world, that they might establish, aud
transmit, unimpaired to their posterity, this inestimable blessing. Yet
we have no religions liberty in America. For what is religious liberty ? It is
not simply the liberty to think : for the greatest tyrant that ever breathed
could not prevent a solitary individual from thinking, if he chose to think.
It implies something more. It implies liberty of expression. This liberty we
do not possess in America. The grand object, therefore, in the pursuit of
which our fathers abandoned the shores of Old England, and incurred so many
hazards and hardships, has not yet been accomplished. A man may not, in
one-half of America, utter his religious convictions on the subject of slavery,
unless, forsooth, those convictions chance to be, that that institution is a
" patriarchal" one. And yet we are boasting constantly of our religious
liberty, and of our liberty of the press. Was there ever a greater '
tency? In the constitution of the United States, it is solemnly g
that "the citizens of each state shall be entitled to all privileges and ii
nities of citizens in the several states." Yet, notwithstanding this solemn

u article

131

provision of the constitution, the citizen of a free state, having a coloured
skin, no sooner sets his foot on the soil of a slave state, than he is robbed of
all his "privileges and immunities," and reduced to the conditiou oi
of merchandize! As I have remarked, ou a former occas
robberies of this description are perpetrated annually in the slave states of
America ; and they are sanctioned by legal enactments of the legislatures of
those states. A friend of mine, some two or three years since, in walking- the
streets of New Orleans, fell in with six or eight free coloured persons, some of
whom had been in his own employment iu the state of New York. They
were in chaiu gangs-that is, gangs of persous employed on the public roads,
each with a ball chained to his leg. They were to be continued in that
situation for twelve months from the time of euteriug it, and if not pre-
viously able to prove, by the testimony of a white man, that they were not
brutes, that they were freemen, to be sold into perpetual bondage. My friend,
being a liberal man, obtained their release, but it was at considerable expense'
This is but a single instance of thousands of cases, which, I have already said,
occur in my own country annually. And these terrible' outrages upon the
rights of our free coloured citizens, sanctioned by slave holdiug statutes, are in
palpable violation of the letter of the constitution of the United States'. But
these kidnapping statutes of the slave states in general, atrocious as they are
are exceeded iu atrocity by one enacted a little more than a year since by the
legislature of the state of Alabama, and which, I believe, has been referred to
by Mr. Birnet. By the former, the coloured man, who had proved his freedom
by the requisite evidence, and paid the expenses of his arrest was permitted to
return to his family; but by the latter, even from the first moment of its
enactmeut, any scoundrel within the limits of Alabama might seize upon a
free person of colour found there, and reduce him to irremedial and perpe-
tual slavery. They wiU not allow him the wretched privilege of proving his
freedom, paying the charges, and taking his own body away. When the fact
of the passing of this law was communicated to me, I chanced to be address-
ing the legislature of my own native state. I did not hesitate to say, in my
place, that if all the demons of perdition had been let loose upon the earth,
and formed into a legislature, it would have beeu impossible for them to have
perpetrated so great an outrage upon the inalienable rights of humanity • for
according to the doctrines of demouology, devils even are not permitted to'
lay violent hauds upon innocent men. But, in addition to all this legal kid-
napping—made legal by slave-holding legislators, but iZ-legal by the paramount
law, the constitution of the land— there is not a little carried on, which, with
what some will perhaps deem a strange inconsistency, is condemned by the
laws of slave-holding states themselves. The slave-holding power, legal or
illegal, stretches its long claws even into the free states, and clutches children
from the very hearthstones of then- free parents, hurries them off clandes-
tinely to the slave states, and sells them into everlasting bondage. And the
cases of this illegal stealing of children, for the slave shambles of the south,
are neither few nor far between. Such are a few of the enormous, wicked
inconsistencies in which slavery involves the republicans of North America.
Let them be seized and treated as they deserve to be, by the literary men
and women of Great Britain. . Let them be held up in your newspapers, in
your great reviews, and other publications, to the hatred of all Europe, aye,
to the execration of the civilized world. Aud while yon spare not these or
any other such abominable inconsistencies, I would beseech you to be
K 2

132

merciful as you can to their pseudo-republican authors. I hope that the
periodicals of Great Britain will also take some pains to hold up in their true
light certain persons in America, who call themselves abolitionists, but who
never do anything for the cause, except to find fault with its active friends.
In the free states almost every man now will say, that he is an abolitionist ;
but many, who say so, will at the same time take great care to condemn our
measures, if not our doctrines, and all or nearly all, who are doing anything for
the cause'; and are in fact, among the worst enemies against whom we have
to do. They call themselves abolitionists, aud profess to feel deeply for the
perishing bondman, because they do not wish to avow themselves so utterly
hostile to liberty and humanity, as a direct acknowledgment of the fact would
proclaim them to be. But a few days before I came to this country, ou
meeting one of this sort of abolitionists, I said to him," Sir, did you ever hear
the story of the boy and the calf 2 I will tell it to you. An intelligent boy
was looking at a calf, in the presence of his father. ' Father,' mqmred the
lad, ' calling the tail one, how many legs would the calf have 2 ' ' Why, my
son,' replied the father, < that is a very simple question ; it would have five, to
be sure ' ' Not at all,' rejoined the lad, ' not at all, father, catting the tail a
leg, would not make it one.' " Bo, my friends, let us say to this sort of aboli-
tionists ; calling yourselves abolitionists, will not make you such. [Borne in
the audieuce not understanding the anecdote, requested Mr. B. to repeat it,
Mr. B. said] I dislike to repeat an anecdote to the same audieuce. But I will
give you another, equally applicable, perhaps, to the same sort of persons.
They remind me of the good old woman's son, John, « My son, John," she
said, "is the most tender-hearted boy I ever knew, ask him to pick up a
basket of chips, and he'll cry." The abolitionists in questiou are also very
tender-hearted ; they feel deeply for the poor slave, and are especially con-
cerned lest his cause should be injured by the overwrought zeal and earnest-
ness of its principal advocates ; but the moment yon ask one of them to do some-
thing himself for the cause, why, like John, he begins to complain, begins
to " cry." We call ou Englishmen to « come over aud help us," convert
these tender-hearted abolitionists to a sense of the importance of doing some-
thing for the slave's deliverance. We do not urge you to come in person, but
come to us in the columns of your daily press, in the pages of your books, of
your novels and romances even, in your poetry, and in your noble reviews,
which are read and reverenced in every town and village throughout the
length aud breadth of our whole land. But you will be told by slave-holders
and then- apologists, that America, as a nation, has nothing to do with the
subject of slavery, not even in the district of Columbia ; that when that
district was ceded to the geueral government by the states of Maryland and
Virginia, it was done in the confident expectation that that government would
not "abolish slavery in that district. Thus, they say, Congress is under an
« implied faith," not to interfere with it. But there are certain important
facts in relation to this matter, which ought never to be lost sight of. At the
time of the adoption of the American constitution, it was universally expected,
both in the slave and nou-slave states, that half a century wonld uot elapse,
before every state in the Union would put an end to slavery within its
own limits. But for this universal expectation, that instrument never would
have received the sanction of a majority of the states. This is very evident,
I think, as well from the general history of the times in which the constitution
was formed and adopted, as from the debates in the conventions of the

several states aeeeding to it. So that upon the same principles of n
adopted by those who urge this objection, does it not clearly follow, that every
slave state in the Union is now under " an implied faith," a solemn obligation
to put an end to slavery within its own limits \ Certainly, this is the legiti-
mate, the necessary inference. And if the several states would redeem this
implied pledge, then, according to the showing of these objectors, Congress
might terminate it in the district of Columbia also. This is the way in which
I deem it proper to treat this matter of " an implied faith j" though it were a
sufficient reply, to say, that the constitution itself; in express words, gives to
Congress " exclusive jurisdiction in all cases whatsoever" over that district,
and of course, over slavery. I desire especially that our British friends will
labour to produce such an impression on the clergy of our country, as will
induce them to act in behalf of humanity. "We often have British clergymen
visiting our country. These, though good abolitionists here, have usually, it
grieves me to say, left their abolitionism at home on going to America ; or
have been induced by their brethren on the other side of the water, to keep
quiet on the subject; so that our pro-slavery enemies have quoted them
against us, and they have really supported tbe atrocious system of slavery, by
withholding their testimony against it. The inference usually drawn from
their course among us, is this, that there, the British clergy, are no more than
the Americau, in favour of emaucipation ; for if they were, it has been said,
they would unite with the abolitionists, aud lift up their voice against slavery.
You cannot therefore, I am sorry to say, boast that the hands of your own
clergy are free from the stain of slavery. Let it be so no longer. And I beseech
you to send forth by your own clergy, crossing the water, the voice of earnest,,
affectionate remonstrance, both against slavery, and against the awful silence
respecting it by the clergy of America. If we could only get the 17,000
ministers in our land— to say nothiug of their churches— right upon this
subject, it would give the monster slavery a blow, that would send him stag-
gering to his own place.

Mr. I. OREWDSON.— Do you confine those remarks to clergymen of the
Church of England ?

Mr. BRADBURN.— I do not. I know not that the ministers of any sect,
not excepting that of Friends, are exempt from all application of my re-
marks. But if they will come and speak out in behalf of the inalienable
rights of humau nature, they will do us good. They will do something to
rescue Christianity from the deep disgrace into which the different sects both
of England and of America have sunk it, in withholding their denunciation of
the sin of slavery. It has been asserted even by some who call themselves
abolitionists, that the New Testament sanctions slavery; but I, for one,
utterly deny that it affords the least pretext for slavery, accordiug to the
definition of that term in America — namely, the holding of property in man.
Are you not aware that divines and philosophers are not only apologizing for
slavery in onr country, but have united, to an alarming extent, to maintain
that it is a good institution, lying at the very basis of republicanism, and must,
in order to rescue the country from perdition, become universal 2 Such is the
fact,andlhave here extracts from the observations of various distinguished per-
souages in America to prove it. J. C. Calhoun, who has been faithfully described
by your illustrious O'Connell, says, that this condition of slavery is but an
universal condition, and that slaves are in a condition every way preferable
to that of the labouring men in any other country. In the college of William

134

and Mary, founded by Jefferson, who was an abolitiouist in sentiment, though
he held slaves, and who exhorted one of your own Doctors of Divinity to visit
America, and do what George Thompson came to do, that is, to attack the
system of slavery, and endeavour to persuade the people to abandon it, a pro-
fessor in that College tells us, "the hirelings who perform all the menial offices
of life, cannot and will not be treated as equals by their employers. How cau
he get wisdom that holdeth the plough, that glorieth in the goad, that driveth
oxen,and is occupied in labours, and whose talk is of bullocks." Here is a pro-
fessor in one of our first Colleges, teaching doctrines diametrically opposite to
all the principles on which our free institutions are professedly based I
should have supposed, from the ideas thrown out by some of the members of the
Convention, that there was nothing of this kind, that slavery was generally
admitted to be an evil; but George Mc. Duffje has said, that "domestic
slavery is the corner stone of our republican edifice," the only thing which
can supersede the necessity of an established order of nobility, and save the
country from perdition ; and he invokes God, that none of his children may
ever live where the noble institution of domestic slavery does not exist.
These are the doctrines taught in our country, by some of our distinguished
men There was a time, when men in America would have been ashamed to
utter such doctrines, when a man uttering them would have been scoffed at,
even as some are uow scoffed at for uttering the self-evident and glorious
truths of the declaration of independence. What has occasioned this change , I
It seems to me it is to be accounted for in this way. Formerly, there seemed
to certain slave-holders, to be no hope of emancipation, or at least, that no one
would urge it on them as a duty ; and then they said, that slavery was a great
evil, that they would gladly get rid of it, if they could, but that being impos-
sible at present, they must endure it with what patient resignation they
,.„■ i.i. ,.,: since the partial working out of the grand experiment m the
West India islands, they find themselves robbed of this excuse ; you have
proved to them that emancipation is practicable, and not only practicable,
but entirely safe also. They must now either acknowledge themselves to be
scoundrels, or give up their hold on this human property, or maintain that
slavery is right, that it is a good and a Christian institution. They choose to
do the last, and by that decision let them abide if they can. It is the position
taken in the extracts which I have read; and many other such extracts I
mio-ht read, were it necessary or desirable. But I have occupied more time
than I intended; and thanking the audience for the kind indulgence with
which they have listened to my remarks, I will now take my seat.

Kev Dr HOBY.— I rise to make an inquiry. I do so, from a deep solicitude
that no statements should be made in this room, especially by sound aboli-
tionists fron Lea, v hich should neutralize their influence ou the other
side of the water. I am greatly afraid, that notwithstanding all the eloquence
and all the pathos with which the last speaker has addressed us, some of his
remarks will neutralize the whole of his address. I will speak of inysetf per-
sonally, and I will appeal to Mr. Georoe Thompson, who will be authority
here, whether there was a single instance of a gentleman, as far south as
I travelled, who on any occasion entertained a suspicion that I was not
an abolitionist. The gentleman who spoke last says, that they suffered from
my not being an abolitionist, or being indifferent about the cause. It that
goes forth across the Atlantic, there are so many who knew me and my
o well, that I am persuaded it will greatly enfeeble the statement

135

lie lias made. I wish to know whether he abides by the statement, that I was
supposed not to be an abolitionist, or that I was indifferent to the cause of
abolition. He made the statement, and I wish for an explanation.

Mr. BRADBURN.— Let me say, Mr. Chairman, that in the remarks I
have made, I have had no reference to any particular person or persons. I was
not aware, at the time of making them, that the Rev. Doctor who has just sat
down, was in the Hall, or indeed, that there were present any clergymen who
had visited America. They were general, and applicable, in my opinion, to
all, or nearly all clergymen who have been to our country from Great Britain.
But since Dr. Hoby has alluded to his visit to America, I will take the liberty
to state, that I have a brother in America, who is a Baptist, and who at the
time Dr. Hoby was there, was not an abolitionist. I conversed with him on
the course which Dr. Hoby had seen fit to take in relation to this subject,
while in our country. It was the opinion of my brother, that Dr. Hoby' re-
garded the anti-slavery movement in America as a political affair, and there-
fore deemed it improper for himself, a foreigner, to interfere with it ; or, that
his taking an active interest in it, might destroy or diminish his means of
usefulness, in the denominatiou of Christians to which he and his colleague
had been deputed ; or, in fine, that although Dr. Hoby might be a very good
abolitionist in the abstract, as most of our enemies profess to be, yet he was
not much of one in the concrete, that is, in practice. This, I say, was the im-
pression of my brother, whom, at the time, I was anxious to engage in the
ie of immediate emancipation. I could wish it proved that he was wrong

COLONEL MILLER.— I should not rise at this late hour did I not feel it
to be a solemn duty. "Without entering iuto any personalities, I wish to
state to this assembly, that the various bodies of professing Christians in
America are owners of slaves. The Baptists hold 100,000 ; the religious sect to
which I have the honour to beloug, the Weslcyan Methodists, hold 90,000.
The Presbyterians hold 80,000, and so on. "With the exception of one or two
sects, there are slaves held by all professing Christians, and by them are
liable to be bought and sold every day. It has been well said on this
floor to-day, that our sects of religionists have been derived from those of
Great Britain, with the exception of two, which have originated on the
other side of the Atlantic. To mark the influence which British Christians
have exerted on America, I call attention to John Wesley,' the founder of
Methodism. He laid down the rule that no dealer in slaves should have com-
munion in the Methodist Episcopal church. But this barrier has been thrown
down and ridden over triumphantly. I beg to call your attention to a state-
ment made by a distinguished Methodist minister in our country at the pre-
sent day. I allude to the Rev. Mr. Wimans, of Mississippi, who in the
general conference of the Methodist Episcopal church, in 1836, said, that not
only stewards, and class leaders, and preachers, but even bishops in that
church ought to be slave-holders. And he strongly urged, that the con-
ference should elect, at that very session, one or more slave-holding bishops.
This was done for the express purpose of bolstering up the institution, aud
bidding defiance to the influence of abolitionists. You talk to professed
Christians on the inconsistency of holding slaves, and they immediately refer
you to Paul's letter to Philemon, in which, speaking of Onesimus, he
calls him " a brother beloved ;" and then call your attention to the commen-
tator Scott, who says that Onesimus was a run-away slave, and that Paul

136

returned him to his master. I am sorry to say, that there is not one of these
commentators who strikes directly at the root of slavery. If men would
hut take the Bihle as the rule and guide of their faith, it would lead to
nuiversal piety and freedom. If ministers from this country should agaiu
visit America, and they are champions iu the cause of aholition, I heg of
them to show it. Let it he known, that we have a great and important
liattle to fight. In former days, when the standard of the revolutionary
fathers floated in the breeze, seutiments of liberty rang from pulpit to pulpit,
and were uttered by the best and the noblest divines. Some persons have
given them no credit for it, alleging that they were placed between two
fires. Their conduct, however, showed that it was a spirit emanating from
that God, whose precepts and commands they taught to their fellow-men. I
will give you an instance of that spirit iu New England. There was an emi-
nent divine of the name of Hopkins, a doctor of divinity. He felt that he
could not pray for the blessing of God on the American arms, unless he libe-
rated his slaves, and he did it. A gentleman inquired, whether he had
manumitted his slaves. He replied, " all but one ; he is so happy, so con-
tented, that I could not get him to have his freedom." " How do you
know 2" " He is one of the oddest fellows you ever saw." " Would you give
him his liberty if it would increase his happiness 2" " Yes." " Call him in."
" Do you love your master, and mistress, and family 2" " Yes, I have every-
thing I want." " But should you be more happy if you had your liberty 2"
" I should." " Take it then." This led to the foundation of the manumission
which took place in seven states of the union. Unfortunately we began at
the wrong end — we begau pulling the coat by the tail. We went for gradual
mauumission, and the slave-holders stole our birthright. Taking advantage
of the rise iu the price of cotton, he gradually insinuated his principles that
slavery was au institution of God. He advanced step by step, with that insi-
diousness with which an enemy enters a citadel, till in 1833, amid the pesti-
lence of the green mountains, 1 we found that our churches and ministers
were opposed to abolition. We were told that if immediate abolition were
granted, the slave would cut his master's throat. We watched the progress
of abolition iu the West India islands. We knew how you advanced in that
cause, and we fondly hoped that the moment slavery was destroyed there, it
would cease with us. But mark the progress. Oue gentleman said to a
slave-holder, * Do you see how freedom in the West Indies operates \ instead
of shedding blood, the negroes on the 1st of August, 1834, fall down ou their
knees and bless God for their deliverance." " Oh ! it is doubtful — I doubt
it," was the reply. " But cannot you read the accounts 2" " Oh, they are
very apt to overdraw these things. Depend upon it, Great Britain has some
design upon us ; she has emancipated her slaves for the purpose of destroying
our liberties." This was the effect, and it will be the effect. I say it
here, and I know there would not he a dissenting voice to it on the shores
of America ; that could the clergy who stand now like pillars under the
institutions of slavery, be brought to aekuowledge that slavery is a sin before
God, the mighty fabric would come down more speedily than the temple
under which Samson put his shoulders, and from which he pulled away the
pillars. It is all in vain to talk to the slave-owner. It is the uorthem Chris-
tians who support slavery. A minister from the southern states, writes to a
friend in the north, K My dear Sir, I shall visit yon on the third Sabbath.
On Saturday night I shall, with the leave of Providence, be iu your city."

137

He arrives at the appointed time, aud what says his friend ? " I am happy to
sec yon. How is your family ? How is your dear wife ? How are the chil-
dren ?" He never asks a word about the slaves. " I hope you will give us a
discourse : our people were so pleased with you the last time you were here."
What was the subject of the discourse ? On the necessity of infent baptism,
or some topic of that description ; not a word about the sin of the men who
hold property in the state to the amount of many thousand dollars secured on
slaves. But in our churches we have begun to inquire, " My dear Sir, how
is your wife ? How are your children ? How are those human beings whom
you formerly called goods and chattels? I trust you have cut the cord
asunder ; that they stand in the relation of men and of hired servauts. I
would invite you to my pulpit, but my people have made up their mind, that
he who robs his fellow-men of their liberty, cannot have access to that
pulpit." This will be our course if you sustain ns in the position we have
taken. I trust that you will do it ? I know that you will do it, by what
I see here. The present American representative to this country told as pal-
pable a falsehood in the eyes of this nation, and his own, as was ever uttered
by mau, when he said, that he did not beloug to a slave-holding state. Not
three years ago, a mother belonging to the Baptist connexion, who had three
children by her husband, who was a freeman, was sold to a slave-dealer,
who put her into one of the gaols of Washington with her children. An indi-
vidual passing by heard their shrieks, he rushed in, and found two of the
children lying dead, with their throats cut, and she was attempting to grapple
with the third. When asked what she was doing, she replied, " I am sending
the children to that Almighty Being who gave them me, rather than have
them go to the south where I shall never see them again."

CAPTAIN STUART.— Having lately been in the United States, and
travelled extensively through the state of New York, I have repeatedly had
this question put to me ; " Cannot you get the English ministers of the
Protestant church, when they come here to be as good abolitiouists, as
they are in England." My conviction and experience go with those of our
deai- American brethren, in affirming that the niiuisters from England, who
visit the United States, are among the most powerful supporters of the slave
system in that land. I know they do not intend to be so.

Rev. Dr. COX. — My name having been mentioued, in allusion to depu-
tations that have been seut to the United States, I must claim to be heard
in a few words of observation on what has passed. I have traversed many
parts of America, ou a visit to Christian churches, and stand connected with
it by endearing associations. As one of the parties in question, I feel assured
that my character is unblemished, and I am not ashamed of my intercourse
with that laud, or of my long course of proceeding in my own. On this
ground I take a firm stand, and though by no means disposed to enter into
any thing like a private question on this occasion, yet I caunot help appealing
agaiust the gross personalities which have been introduced into this Con-
vention. I honour and love America ; but in a Convention like this, where
great and important questious are to be discussed, it is not competent for an
individual to wander from them into these personal allusions. Let me be
fairly called forward, and I am ready to defend my actions, and doubtless
others involved in the insinuations can defend theirs. That gentleman, (Mr.
BiiADBuiiu) with all the respect I wish to entertain for him, I must say has
been guilty of gross personalities, and has stated what I know to be con-

138

trary to the fact, when he said that the gentlemen commissioned to go from
this country to America, on errands of love and mercy, did not dare to touch
the anti-slavery question— did not speak against slavery in the United States.
I am compelled to say for myself, that though fully convinced at the time,
that I was best promoting this cause, by not appearing on oue particular
occasion, to which special allusion is doubtless made, yet when I found
myself hi a position, in which I thought it was right and proper to stand
forth on this subject, I unhesitatingly availed myself of it. That was at an
anti-slavery meeting in the state of Vermont. On that occasion, I not only
spoke, but brought forward a resolution on the subject ; and the speech
delivered on that occasion was published in almost every paper, of which I
heard, and could, therefore, scarcely have escaped that gentleman's observation.
He is not justifiable in his statements, when he must know, to speak of nothing
further, that this very speech was circulated through America, and was as
strong in the anti-slavery cause as any he has himself delivered. He ought
then to retract his remarks, and not to throw opprobrium on individual cha-
racter, by sweeping and unsustained criminations. Still less so, when he must,
or may know, that I in common with others present, stand in active co-ope-
ration with a missionary society, which has been distinguished among the first
and foremost, to say the least, in this work, and has been the great instrument
of the demolition of slavery in the West Indies. That glorious achievement
has been effected by Christianity, and it is Christianity which must civilize
and save the world. Let it never be forgotten, that it has been the Christiau
Missionary Societies which have stood forward and accomplished the great
enterprise. I entreat our American friends not to infuse into their speeches
those personalities, which will obstruct the progress of their own cause, and
which will have a tendency to destroy their influence, where it is desirable
they should secure it in large portions of the American commuuity.

Mr BBADBUBN.— In justice to the gentleman who has just sat down,
I feel I ought to say, that in the remarks I made, I had not the slightest
possible reference to him, or to any other person in the Convention. My
remarks, as I said at the time, applied to the clergy geuerally, of all sects,
visiting our country. There were, I know, some exceptions. I now remember
the speech which the Rev. Doctor made when in the state of Vermont ; and
I remember saying to a friend, how deeply I regretted that it was not made
nearer to Mason and Dixon's line.

Bev J KEEP (delegate for Ohio, U. S.)— I had intended to offer my
sentiments at length, on the subject now before the Convention, but as
most I expected to communicate has, by my beloved countrymen who have
preceded me in this discussion, been already giveu, and as I earnestly desire
that the most important business before us may not be retarded by a repe-
tition, I shall merely suggest a very few thoughts. We need to check
ourselves in a meeting like this, when each of .its five hundred members
is in the possessiou of facts, and argument, and thought, which it would
take him hours to preseut. I am deeply awed by the fact, that seldom, if
ever, has a deliberative assembly been convened under circumstances more
deeply solemn and interesting than those which now attend us. I rejoice at
the great unanimity which has thus far characterized our proceedings. I am
gratified that so favourable an opportunity has occurred for the frank, full,
and unvarnished disclosures now made respecting American slavery, though
most painful and revolting, because the remedy can never be applied till the

real nature and exteut of the disease be known, and because it is high time
that the covering should be removed, aud the true character of the Aineriean
slave system be exposed. But this disclosure presents things in an aspect so
astounding, that those who make it, especially in a foreign land, and in the
hearing of those who may be glad that republican institutions should be
encumbered, are liable to the imputation of a want of patriotism, and
designedly giving a picture, which shall make their native and loved country
odious in the eyes of all Europe. I can assure you that no class of men are more
ardent in their love of country than those who feel constrained to speak thus
plainly of the giant sin of the giant republic of the Western hemisphere. I
regret also, that it should appear, in this Couvention, that any collision exists
either among American or British abolitionists, lest those who staud aloof
from our holy enterprise, or are in heart inimical towards it, should be misled
in regard to the wisdom and efficiency of our measures, and the certain
triumph in the result to which we are hastening ; overlookiug the fact that
men whose hearts are deeply imbued with the love of liberty, and who have
vowed to abide by the doctrine of equal human rights, will never swerve from
their principles, or abandon them, although in some of the details in their
operations, they may wax warm in their advocacy of different views. Such
collisions, however, serve to exhibit some of the difficulties which attend the
abolition of slavery. You are thus led to see how the scaly and slimy monster
has entwined himself around almost all the iuterests of the Christian com-
munity in both hemispheres ; and as light pours in upon the wrongs inflicted
upon the black man, you will see that tyranny in opinion and practice on
other subjects, and in respect to other matters, invites the faithful ordeal of
a righteous reformation. The sundering of the bonds of the slave, cannot but
disclose the odium of oppressiou in other forms ; and a delegation of so much
intelligence, as is found in the present corps of disciplined abolitionists,
should uot be surprised if a brother is seen to step out a little further, and
with less timidity, in the work of reform than meets existing views of the
great mass. If none stretch on iu advauce, the reformation is wanting in the
best proof of its genuineness. Let the interchaugc of sentiment be free and
frank, let the discussion be untrammelled, let there be no fear of looking at
truth, and of promptly and fearlessly following its dictates, and our work will
be onward, while, in all its features, it shall commend itself to the consciences
of the good and the intelligent, and in its progress, command the admiration
of the wise, and the homage even of its detractors. From the statements
now given, the British public are becoming better and more extensively
acquainted with American character, and especially with the enormities of the
American slave system ; while, on the other hand, we too are becoming better
informed respecting the English character, and the details of that mighty
movement, which has achieved the deliverance of 800,000 captives, and
declares its purpose to hold on in the work, till the oppressed of every
clime, are in the possession of their inalienable rights. In the meantime,
the whole phalanx of abolitionists may rest in the assurance that, while
they themselves are fallible, their principles are infallible; that difficulties
in the way are to be overcome, and that their union against the common
enemy is the indubitable presage of their final conquest. There are circum-
stances counected With American slavery which are peculiar. It has existed
there from the earliest settlement of the country. The very year which
witnessed the landing of the pilgrim fathers in Massachusetts Bay, witnessed

a be effected

140

also the landing in the Virginia colony of a Dutch ship, freighted with negroes
stolen from Africa, and who were sold as daces. Thus the two antagonist
principles were coeval, the one of slavery, the other of liberty; liberty in the
north, slavery in the south ; and from that hour, the black man m that
country has been universally considered as of an inferior race, aud doomed to
be the slave to the white man. Slavery has thus existed iu the view of the
whole American community, the people from geueration to generation have
been familiar with the fact and its details, and came almost as a matter of
course to look upon slavery imposed upon a black mau, as no kind of infringe-
ment upon his personal rights. Hence too, the existence of the prejudice
against colour which imposes cruel and extended disabilities upon the free
coloured men. It is not, therefore, so unaccountable, as it might at first seem
to be, that the American community should very geuerally be iuseusible to
the real and full enormities of the slave system. Nor should we forget the
power of habit, however wrong, to keep back the mind from the candid
reception of the truth. While this is no justification of the wrong, it shows us
that we should allow a little time for the change in public sentiment, and not
oive up a man or a commuuity as hopeless, because somewhat slow or loth m
the abandonment of the wrong. Slavery in the northern states has diffused
its influence for ages over all the ramifications of society, civil, )
commercial, political, and literary. Its removal, therefore, c
only by an entire change of public sentiment in all these aspects. I am not
surprised at the pain and astonishment so generally felt in this Convention, in
view of the fact, that the ministers and the churches in America so extensively
and efficiently sustain slavery. I do not believe that my colleagues have over-
drawn this fact. It is my deliberate convictiou, and as such I proclaim it on
this floor, that the churches and the ministry in America are the strongest
supports of our accursed and most ab ominable slave system. Beyond question,
if ministers of the different denominations would withdraw their influence,
and make their pidpits utter tU truth upon slavery, the churches would soou go
with them; the slave-holder would feel the power of convictiou, and shivery
itself would expire. Yes, Mr. President, guilty as my country is by reason
of its slavery, I feel assured of the fact, and I rejoice to publish it here, that
such is the influence of moral sentiment upon and over the entire American
community, that if the ministers of the gospel iu it were but united m then-
denunciation of slavery, it would die a natural death in a very few years, and
our three millions of slaves would stand up before the nation a regenerated,
disenthralled race of industrious citizens, and happy freemeu. Would that
my brethren understood this matter rightly, and would act up to then-
responsibility. In America, yon see the influence of slavery upon Christians,
and its character amidst Christian institutions. Iu no other commuuity was
its character ever so bad, or its atrocities ever so vile. The more you come
in contact with its influence amoug and upon Christians, the more will you see
of the malignity of its spirit, and the more dearly will you perceive the
difficulties of removing it from American society. The very persons who
hold in their hands the power to remove it are the very same who love and
iustify the system. If it was a great work for British freemen who never had
the evil mingling in their society to remove slavery from distant colonies; how
much greater the work for American freemen to remove their slavery, which
from the begiuning of their days has diffused its baneful influence over the
whole body. I allude to this for the purpose of arresting attcntiou to the

141

extraordinary disclosures made to-day, and to induce the philanthropist and
the Christian to contemplate the spirit of slavery in its real malignity, and in
its most revolting bearings. All sueh are solemnly bound to wateh this
malignant spirit and to weep and to pray over its ravages. Sueh a spirit
beeonies extinet only under the influence of prayer and fasting. The occa-
sion whieh has called us together, the objeet we would attain, and the
diselosures whieh are now in progress before ns, all eonspire to impress upon
my mind the necessity of a more spiritual and entire eonseeration to God.
The men who would eonquer slavery when it beeomes entrenched amidst Chris-
tian institutions, and secure a generous and permanent triumph to the
principles of human rights, need themselves to be thoroughly imbued with
the spirit of truth in its purity and love. The prejudice against colour is so
deeply rooted and inveterate iu the Ameriean mind, that the black man,
though free, is not permitted a plaee in our seminaries of learning, nor the
opportunity of learning a trade, nor the enjoyment .of eivil, religious, and
soeial benefits common to all but himself. If it were necessary to add to the
mass of facts already before the Convention, I eould give some very affeeting
eases of injury which have oeeurred under my personal notiee. What ought
we to say and do, when the presidents of eolleges and theological seminaries,
deelare to pious, talented, and aeeomplished young men who are anxious for
edueation ; — yon eannot be reeeived here, because you have a blaek skin, we
eannot proteet you in our college, beeause you are a negro. Alas ! for the land
where sueh things exist. Alas ! for its Christianity, when the colour of the
skin is made the test of merit, and the ground of rejection from the benefits of
a theologieal seminary. In one of our theologieal seminaries, its direetors so
far yielded to this prejudiee against eolour and the dietation of the slave
spirit, as aetually to pass an ordiuanee, prohibiting the students, though young
men of adult years, aud within a few mouths to go out as preachers, from any
discussion of the subjeet of slavery and from any action for its removal, or
for the improvement of the degraded eoloured people in the immediate neigh-
bourhood. A servile eomplianee with this requisition was the eondition of
their eontinuance in the seminary. Forty of these young men thus restricted,
promptly and manfully sent in their protest, aecompanied with a request for
letters of dismission. Liberty was given, and they retired in disgust and in
grief, from this scene of tyranny. As the result of this movement, a new
seminary was commenced, to whieh the blaek man is invited, and where he is
reeeived to the full enjoyment of the same and equal privileges with the white
man, and where freedom of diseussion is untrammelled. This new institution
now numbers 400 students, and is putting forth a happy and powerful influ-
enee in favour of the slave, in support of righteous principles, and for the
elevation of the eoloured mau, and is a powerful auxiliary in the Ameriean
anti-slavery enterprise. Its establishment constitutes an era of the eountry.
Now, at least, oue eollege in the republie of Ameriea furnishes a home for the
black man. A minister of my aequaintauee, aud a kuown abolitionist, was
invited to take the pastoral eharge of a eongregation, in whieh few enter-
tained the same opinions with himself, upon slavery. But they well knew his
sentiments, for he freely avowed them, though he did not diseuss the subjeet
of slavery upon the Sabbath. In about ten weeks a public meeting was
ealled to inquire what eourse should be taken in respeet to the minister.
" What is the difiieulty?" inquires a friend at this public meeting. It was
replied, " our minister brings slavery into the pulpit, and we are dissatisfied."

142

"Does he preach about it on the Sabbath?" " No, but he prays about it."
"How?" "He prays that the slave may have his liberty. We are willing ,
our minister should pray that the slaves may go to heaven, but we are not
willing that he should pray that they may have their freedom." This is a
specimen of feeling among American Christians extensively on this subject.
A minister from America, of high stauding and great influence, was a few years
since, present at a meeting in London in favour of religious freedom. On a
subsequent evening, and in a large company he was asked, how did you like
the meeting last evening ? Very well, he replied, with some comments ; and
then warmly congratulated himself and his country, upou the fact, that uo
such society or discussions were necessary in the United States, where all
have their liberty both of speech and action, without any law-established
religion. A brother minister addressed him, saying, "Well, I am glad to hear

that, Dr. , I now conclude that slavery is abolished in America, is it not V As

soon as he could recover from the confusion which a question so pertinent and
just, occasioned him, all he said in reply was, « Why, I never thought of the
slaves." So it is, not a few of the ministers seem never to think of slavery,,
or of those who are ground to death under its unmitigated cruelties. Facts
like these indicate the public sentiment of the country, and show the nature
and difficulties of the work which the abolitionists of America have begun.
While I am sure that the contest commenced must be severe, and that much
of the labour must be of a political character,— the people with correct
sentiments expressing them at the ballot box,— still I have no hope of success,
any further than our action is based upon correct moral sentiment, and
sustained by correct moral feeling. And I am happy to say, that as a
whole, the anti-slavery enterprise in America is deeply imbued with a
correct religious feeling, and derives its best strength from the spirit of
fervent piety and devout prayer, and has its foundation in that fear of God
which is the beginning of wisdom. Some of its advocates may betray undue
warmth in debate, and may appear to rely upon carnal policy, yet there is a
redeeming spirit in the midst ; there are not a few who sigh and cry at the
mercy-seat for the abominations of the land, and wait before God in availing
prayer ; and who receive the answer to their prayers in the coming forward of
gifted minds, to explain the doctrine of human rights, and to defend the truth.
To produce conviction upon the mind of the slave-holder, of the wrong which
he practices, and to procure the manumission of the slave is one and the most
essential thing, in our great work. But with this is connected the labour, also
indispensable in the case, to elevate the black man, and to prepare him in
the possession of his freedom, to become a useful and respectable citizen. To
accomplish this is a work of great and patient labour, upon which the atten-
tion of abolitionists must rest with unabating interest, and for which they
must make liberal and permanent provision. As formidable as is the straggle
for manumission, I look upon the event as comparatively near. I am not too
old to indulge the sanguine hope of witnessing this glorious event. My faith
in its very speedy accomplishment is strong. American abolition has com-
menced its work near the middle of the nineteenth century. You know it is
characteristic of Americans to go forward rapidly. I expect a development
of this national characteristic, in reference to the abolition of its slavery.
We have all the benefits of British example in the case, a little more
preparatory work, a little longer application of the moral machinery, a little
further application of the developments of Providence, and we jump to the

143

conclusion, the chains of the slave are sawn asunder, his bloody manacles fall
from his limbs, aud he is a freeman. But the work will not then be done
Where are the men and women, who from principle will engage in the labour
of elevating the coloured man ? who will go down to him in his degradation,
sympathise with him, stay by him, weep over him, pray with him, teach him,'
comfort him, pom- oil into his wounds, and raise him to the dignity of a
man, and lead him out as one who is now redeemed from his thraldom, and
allowed his rights as a man and a brother ; to be esteemed and treated,
not according to the colour of his skin or his hair, but according to his
personal merits as a man of industry, intelligence, and virtue ? We need
in the United States a large number of this class. As yet they are too
few. Happily their number is increasing. The work of preparing them is
in progress. The Oberlin Institute, whose origin I have before mentioned,
commenced by the forty young men who were denied free discussion by
those who should have sustained them in it, forbidden to instruct the
blacks by those who should have cheered them in the duty, and receiving
the coloured people to the same and equal privileges with the white man, is
furnishing efficient labour of this description. Both teachers and pupils
are devoting themselves especially to the improvement of the coloured

Four hundred a

l training ; nearly 100 of whom will go

out every year prepared for such a work. A moral, literary, spiritual,
philanthropic, truly abolition phalanx, are thus preparing for the herculean,
but noble Christian work, which is soon to be thrown into their hands
by the manumission of the slaves. It is too late to pretend that the blacks
have not talents. Give them the opportunity, and their talents will be
developed. Let them enjoy the proper moral and intellectual training, and
they will become literary men, qualified to stand in any of the pulpits of
Christendom. The residue of my days, I hope cheerfully to devote to this
particular object, and it shall be my abundant reward to know, that my
beloved countrymen have at length, though late, learned to practice righ-
teousness towards the coloured race ; and that their slavery is named amono-
the things that were. ""'

Rev. N. COL VEB,.- Allow me to offer an apology for myself, and for
my brethren from America. In our discussions upon the subject before the
Convention, I know, and I feel with grief, that we may seem to speak ill of
our country, in the communications we make, with reference to it. But I can
exclaim with Cowper, when looking at the faults of England,
******#*« America,
" With all thy faults I love thee still !"
I would gladly throw a mantle over the faults of America, and hide them
from view, but in so doing, we should cover up the poor coloured man who
is in slavery there. With all the tender feelings which we cherish for our
country, I know that in the heat of debate we are apt to go far, and I should
be sorry that an injurious word should fly back to America, and damage our
cause. On the motion, touching the literature of England, and the manner in
which it can affect America, I have but a single remark to make, aud I will
do it by relating a fact. There is one delicate point where the literature of
this country can touch America, and make it feel, and which I believe has not
been mentioned. Two years since, when passiug down one of the northern
rivers, a friend introduced me to a gentleman, by saying, "I know you are a
slave-holder, I beg to introduce to you an ageut of the Anti-Slavery

144

Society." He looked aghast. I said, "This is abrupt ; but we may as well
come to the question at first as at last. I wish to inquire whether you are a
Christian." It appeared to bring him to a pause, but he replied, " Thauk God,
I hope I am." I rejoined, "Then we will talk about this subject,"-and the
following conversation transpired. " Let me tell you," said he, " I think yon
miss your point in not knowing our character. The southern men are full ot
chivalry ; they cannot bear to be touched on that point, and such is the
course pursued by anti-slavery folks, that you arouse their indignation, and
can do them no good." " I will try not to arouse yours ; but I wish to talk to
you of the right of one man holding property in another." I drew hur
away from the company, and got him into the Bible argument,
time he began to grow tender. I inquired whether h° ll! "
Bible argument, and finding that he had not, I prom
arrived at New York, I would put him in possession of a copy. I requested
that he would carry it home aud read it. He replied, " I cannot ; I should
not be safe in doing it." "What do you mean?" "I should be a marked
man." "Are yon a southern man, do you possess this chivalry, and do
you make a bow to Messrs. Mob, and ask them what book yon shall read I
I heard you boasting just now that you were a freeman. What ! have the
southern men come to this, that they cannot exercise their judgment as to
what books they shall read, what newspapers they shall examine, without
asking a mob ? Is this the conduct of Christian men V He stroked Ms head
and said, " Ah, it is so." It was evening, and he wanted to go to bed. But
he said, "You should go to Congress, and get them to free the slaves; and
if Congress will emancipate them, there are thousands who will go for it with
both hands up." TUn is a point on which the south may be made to feel,
and they must feel. It is a fact that the judges of the land, the legislators,
and the miuisters of the south are themselves slaves ; they are not freemen,
they have to ask the ruffian mobs what they may read. I know of no point
on which they can be assailed, and made to feel so keenly, as upon that. I
hope that your press will make brother Jonathan feel, that while he binds
the slave in chains, he himself is bound, and that his boasted chivalry is
mere passion and noise, while he permits himself to be a slave. I give this
fact with reference to assailing America through the operation of British
literature.

Bev. E. GALUSHA.— I fear a wrong impression may rest upon the
minds of some gentlemen, who are unacquainted with the entire American
character. Dnriug this afternoon, we, who are her representatives, have been
placed in circumstances most deeply humiliating ; we have been obliged to
contrast American shame with British glory. You have been beforehand
with us in the work of justice and benevolence. The object for which we are
assembled has required ns to speak of the vices, not the virtues of the country.
And while doing so, we wish it to be remembered, that not all that is m
America is American. For slavery there is not indigeuous but exotic. We
also hope, that when we are called upon to state the truth, the whole truth,
and nothing but the truth, in relation to the evils of slavery in America, yon
will keep in mind that we are exhibiting but one, and that the most odious
trait in her character. And I desire to offer one apology for her, though not
an unrighteous one. For I have feared that while we have been showing her
up in her tatters and abominations, you would be ready to discard and disown
herforever. But she is your offspring, however sh» — .,.,.,•: ,»,

After si

that when \

e dishonoured and

145

degraded, and the shame with which she is now mantled is not the result of
her own independent conduct, but the fruit of early and undue parental
indulgence. The only apology I have to offer for her is, that she is possessed
of a devil, and is so under infernal power, that like the lacerated demoniacs
coming out of the tombs, she has iuflicted violence upon herself. But we
have come here to tell yon the truth of her case— the worst of it, that you may
unite with us in her behalf, and grant us all the aid of your literature, your
religion, and your press, to exorcise her. And when the evil spirit shall have
gone out, and you shall see America sitting clothed and in her right mind,
(and we trust that the time will soon arrive), then you will again receive her
as your own fair daughter, brightening up into all the features of her pristine
loveliness.

Mr. FULLER.— I believe there are some bright spots, some oases in
my adopted country. I am glad that the remarks of some friends have
tended to show it. I wish that one friend had gone further with regard
to the case of Harris. That case will bring individual responsibility upon
us all. I uuderstood him to say, that Harris was under the patronage of
a Quaker ; he was under the patronage of a Presbyterian minister, a man
with nine children who never at any time possessed 500 dollars. This is a
bright spot. I am glad, as a member of the Society of Friends, to bear my
testimony in favour of an American Presbyterian minister. When this
young man went to Burlington College, he was admitted, with the under-
standing, that he should recite by himself for three weeks. He continued
to do so for twelve months, and then he was at the head of his class. His pre-
ceptor then said to him, « Young man, you come up and recite with your class
to-day ; be cool j do it as well as you can, and if there be occasion, when the
recitation is over, I will address the class." He came up, and at the close of
the recitation, his preceptor said, " Young geutlemen, you perceive you have
a fresh class-mate, I need not say who it is j you can see by Iris colour.
Probably some of yon will take offence. If any one objects to him, he is at
liberty to leave the college, aud more than that, if you all leave that young
man shall stay, and I will sustain his rights ; his rights have been trampled
on for twelve months." And what did these chivalrous youths do ? They
all submitted, because here was a man who acted couscientiously and not from
expediency. But for this upright conduct the probability is, that this young
man would have been put down, where John Keep said the coloured men were
and trodden upon. I understaud that the largest Baptist College in the world'
is about to be opened for coloured men. I do not believe that we are quite so
contemptible as we have been represented. It may be satisfactory to know,
that Professor Dean, who sits near me, is a professor of Burlington College

Rev. C. E. LESTER.— I hope we shall not, as Americans, make so many
apologies for the truth. We state facts, and as men we ought to state them.
I hope we shall not exhibit national pride, and prove too sensitive on the flaws
of our country. They do not come out with more severity than the truth
requires. I have been present the whole of the day hearing those noble
attestations to the truth, which have been uttered by our friends on both
sides the Atlantic. I hope that the discussion will be resumed to-morrow,
and that a further opportunity will be given of adducing facts tending to'
elucidate the whole subject. When Dr. Rolph has opened the Canadian
question; I shall, with the permission of the audience, state facts which I
think will not only be interesting but very honourable to America.

146

The resolution was then put and carried unanimously.

JOSIAH FORSTER, Esq.-In endeavouring to enlist the literature of otter

s:° ^:zs* ss r-L *- a „««*. ^

1 SI OTATRMAN.-As the whole diseussionhasbeenon ^ *£7,
it will he hetter that this resolution should stand by itself. . sh ould like to
sav a word in reference to the feelings of our Amencan friends. More than
oneLTfelUhat in order to he a consistent, honest man, it was neeessary to
e^ose SX We should remember that under the hieing of heaven
our own sores have been but very recently heated. We sh ould thank .our
Wriean brethren for having exposed then ailments and asked for their
removal It is now our duty to act the part of Hnd and Christian phy-
sicians ' I have felt throughout the whole of the day that they were acting a
most honourable part in standing up as they have done for the honour of their
country.

JONATHAN BACKHOUSE, Esq. (of Darlington.)-I rise to move the fol-
lowing resolution —

A volume entitled, Replies to the Queries of the British and Foreign
Anti-Slavery Soeiety, on Slavery in the United States, having heen
laid on the table, and numerous other papers and statements submitted,
relating to the present operation of slavery in the United States;
Resolved, that they be referred to a eommittee, consisting of John
Bibt, J. Woodwaek, J. G. Bieney. W. Phillips, and J. Feancillon,
who are hereby appointed to consider the same, and to prepare for
and report on their publication.

I feel pleasure in eontributing, however little it may be, towards the pro-
motion of the important objeet whieh we all have in view. I feel that the
results of this Convention will be of vital importance, not only to the hundreds
of thousands of our fellow-ereatures who are held in bondage, but to those
who fasten their shaekles and infliet the lash. Having been m the United
States, and seen much of the working of the system of slavery there I can,
as an eye-witness, confirm many of the faets whieh have this day been stated.
Though some of the laws of America have been adverted to, I should like
you to hear from some of the delegates from the United States present, the
extent of the injustice which is to be found on the records of the different
legislative assemblies, suceinetly stated ; where even that precious book winch
has been given by divine inspiration is not allowed to be taught to the slaves
or even to the free coloured man. In some of the states the man who is bold
enough to teach it to a coloured ehild, bond or free, is liable to be fined 500
dollars for the Jfet offenee, and for the second, to be put to death I do not
think it ean be eonsidered that in the slave states the laws admit of the
liberation of the slave.

Mr. BIRNEY— In some states they do.

Mr. BACKHOUSE.-Not in all states, by any means. One himdied and
fifty slaves liberated by the Friends in North Carolina, were seized by a vaga-

147

bond in the neighbourhood and sold into slavery. The Friends (their former
masters) brought an action against the individual, in the Supreme Court and
the judge gave a decree in their favour. At the next session, the legislature
of ISorth Carolina passed a law rendering the sale valid, and commanding
these slaves who had been liberated to be returned to slavery. An eminent
lawyer (now a judge) advised the Mends to eonvey the remainder of those to
whom they had given freedom to trustees, as slaves. This was done, solely with
a_ view to their protection from a similar outrage, all their earnings were
given to them, and they continued to enjoy the privileges of freedom. But a
fresh smt was brought in the Supreme Court, and -eventually a deeision given,
that it was well known, the Quakers' discipline did not allow them to hold
slaves, and that, therefore, this arrangement was made to eontravene what
they termed the poliey of the law ; and a verdict for several thousand dollars
was aetnally given against the trustees. I have seen two hundred men and
women ehained to each other, driven along like beasts ; I have seen children
torn from their parents, husbands from their wives ; and mothers have told
me, that as soon as their children arrived at an age at which they were worth
a few dollars, every child in succession has beeu torn from them, and sold to
far distant plantations, without the least ray of hope that they would ever see
them again ; leaving them ehildless and cheerless to drag out the short remains
of their weary, aud toilsome, and suffering pilgrimage, without the tear of
sympathy to comfort and ehoer them in their passage to the tomb
Mr. BENNET.— I beg to second that resolution.

Mr. BIRNEY.— I am rather apprehensive that the Committee are about
to undertake more than they will be able to perform during the sitting
of the present Convention. The doeumeuts referred to will make a volume of
considerable size, and the eondensation of the matter is no slight task.
These documents have been prepared at a very considerable expense of time
and labour, and the statements of facts eontained in them may be relied upon
as authentic. They are now in the possession of the British and Foreign Anti-
Slavery Soeiety, with authority to do with them whatever they shall see
proper. I would suggest that the Soeiety appoint a committee for their
eondensation, who will, in whatever course may be taken with them, have
referenee to the effect they may be made to produee on the British public, and
their consequent influenee on the Ameriean.

Rev. J. KEEP.— I wish the Convention to bear in mind that these docu-
ments were eompiled by two of the. most discriminating minds we have in
America, one of them, the son of a gentleman who was formerly a slave-
holder, the other, Theodore Weld. The facts are of immense moment. I
ire to assert that there is no manuseript doeument to be eompared with
it m point of value. I think, therefore, that it should come out under the
sanction of the Convention.

Mr. CONDER.— The eommittee ean
they think proper.

_ Mr. W. MORGAN.— The work will
tion upon it, unless these documents go
Mr. BIRNEY.— I have no objectio
sanction of the Convention.

The resolution was put and •
Convention adjourned.

n their report reeommend what course

.ot have the imprimatiir of the Conven-
to the eommittee.
to any course which will give it the

trried unanimously, after whieli the

FOURTH DAY'S SITTINGS, TUESDAY, JUNE 16, 1840.
(MORNING).
J. G. BIENEY, Esq. in the Cliair.
The Minutes of yesterday were read and confirmed.
Rev. William Bevan haying announced that the subject for dis-

FRENCII SLAVERY :

Mr. TBEDGOLD read the following credentials of the French Deputies ;

TO THE COMMITTEE OP THE BRITISH AND FOREIGN ANTI-SLAVERY
SOCIETY OF LONDON.

The French Society having been informed by you that delegates
from Societies in different parts of the world were about to assemble in
the capital of the British Empire, to confer together on the most effica-
cious means of accomplishing the abolition of slavery, which stall bears
so heavily on the unfortunate African race in so many countries of the
world, are most desirous of associating themselves with you in this
important work.

This Society rejoices at the generous efforts of so many men united
together, for the hallowed purpose of healing a wound which cupidity
keeps open, and which prevents the healthful progress of civilization in
so extensive a manner.

It will be in vain that the slave-trade has been disallowed by the
laws of so many of the principal nations of Europe, and that stipula-
tions have been entered into in treaties concluded between the great
civilized powers ; if there still exist ' countries where the markets are
open, where men can be reduced by other men to serve in the capacity
of sl'aves under the protection of the laws, and where the vindication
of freedom and the assertion of free-labour are treated as a crime. So
long as these evils exist, humanity will have incessantly to groan under
this infamous crime, and society will have to suffer from the demorali-
zation which everywhere accompanies it.

Not to speak of the horrible cruelties which attend the clandestine
trade, it is impossible that the possessors of slaves can perform the
duties imposed upon them by the laws of religion and morality, either
towards themselves or their dependents.

It is impossible that the

complete suppression of the natural and imprescriptible right which
man holds from his Creator should not affect, in its essence, the ends
of the social compact.

Whatever may be the pretended necessities of tropical culture, it is
impossible to justify the laws which; by the odious abuse of mere force,
pretend to maintain an entire race of men under the yoke of servitude.

Several generations have passed away since France proclaimed the
principles of human liberty in the midst of universal bondage. At the
opening of the States-General, in 1789, she declared by the mouth of
one of her ministers that negro-slavery could not be maintained.

The National Assembly placed freedom and property among the
rights of man and of citizenship.

We are desirous, therefore, of associating ourselves with you in
your efforts agaiust slavery, which is an open outrage against the living
principles that lie at the bottom of every Frenchman's heart, and which
neither sophistry nor private interest will ever be able to destroy.

With a view to this object we beg you to recognise Monsieur
Isambert, a member of the French legislature, and the Secretary of our
Society, Monsieur Cordier, also a member of the Chamber of Deputies,
M. de St. Anthoine, and M. Alcide Laure, who have readily under-
taken the mission.

We regret that the closing labours of our parliamentary session, in
which many of our most distinguished members are engaged, as well as
those of the government commission assembled at this moment for the
examination of all the questions relating to Colonial slavery, prevent us
from rendering this deputation so numerous as we could have wished
it to be.

Signed on behalf of the French Anti-Slavery Society,

DE LABORDE.

Paris, at a sitting of the Society, ' Passy.

June 9, 1840.

Mr. TURNBULL.-The task has devolved on me of introducing the
subject of slavery in the French colonies. I feel myself greatly supported
hy seeing beside me my bon. friend, M. Isambeut ; and also M. Cuemieux
who although he is a child of the house of Israel, is as thorough an aboli-
tionist as any gentleman present. You are all, doubtless, aware that the
subject of abolition has of late years made great progress in France ; that it
has repeatedly been before the French legislature ; and that two successive
committees have been named for the piu-pose of examining the various modes

150

by which abolition might he accomplished. Within the last few weeks, Mr.
Tredgold and myself had the honour of being received by the King of the
French, with whom we had a long audience. His Majesty assured us in the
first place, that he and his government were prepared to do all in their power
to abolish the slave-trade; and that a Commission was about to be named to
inquire into the best means of effecting the abolition of slavery. This
Commission has since been appointed, and from the names of its members, as
they appear in the Moniteur, it is impossible to doubt the sincerity of His
Majesty's declaration. I will now proceed to read to the Convention the fol-
lowing paper in which the two plans which are already before the legislature
are set forth.

The great question of slavery has already made considerable progress
in France. It is true that it was the opinion of the Committee of
1838, that the slaves in the French colonies were not then so well
prepared for emancipation, as those in the English colonies in 1833.

This difference is ascribed to the constant care which England had
taken of her slave-colonies, ever since the date of the abolition of the
slave-trade in 1807 ; to the zeal of the Moravian, Methodist, and
Baptist Missionaries, to the establishment of schools, the building of
churches, and the progress of education ; to the debates in Parliament,
the discussions in the local assemblies, and the freedom of the Colonial
press, familiarising the minds of the colonists, and indirectly those of
the slaves, with the idea of liberty, and impressing them with the
necessity, the advantage, and the power of the law.

The English negro they say is more religious and m
submit to public authority than the French ; hut the French negro on
the other hand is assumed to he more intelligent, better acquainted
with his own interests, and of a more benevolent disposition than the
English. The French they say have always been the best slave-
masters in the West Indies, more gentle and communicative than the
English, and less obstinate, rigorous and minute in the exercise of their
rights. For these reasons it is assumed to he unquestionable, that if
the slave-trade had not been persisted in, the slaves in the French
colonies would have been better prepared for emancipation than those
of the English were in 1833.

With regard to the moral and intellectual condition of their slaves,
they ascribe its melancholy condition to the want of instruction, to the
small number of the clergy, and their total want of zeal in the cause ;
never troubling themselves in the least with the interests of the negro
population. In the isle of Bourbon the slaves are represented as given

151

up to the grossest idolatry; but in the "West Indies, they are said to bo
naturally disposed to the observances of religion.

The committee of 1839 declared itself in favour of an intermediate and
transition state between slavery and freedom, analogous in some degree
to the English negro apprenticeship. In place of leaving the negro
during the existence of this intermediate state in the hands of his
former master, and establishing a special magistracy for his protection ;
the committee proposed, that, immediately on the abolition of slavery,
a radical and substantial change should take place in all the relations
which formerly existed between the slave and bis master. The exclu-
sive tutelage of the emancipated population, according to the plan of
the committee, would be transferred to the government, by whom the
services of the emancipated negroes were to be hired out to the planters,
on such conditions as the authorities might determine. This state of
things was to last, until by means of a sinking fund, to be accumulated
from the wages to be earned by the emancipated negroes, the whole
indemnity to be awarded to the proprietors, prineipal and interest,
should have been refunded to the government.

It is assumed that in the whole of the French colonies there are now
about 250,000 slaves, two-thirds of whom, between fourteen and sixty
years of age, arc considered capable of habitual and productive labour.
The committee have not made any specific proposal as to the amount
of the compensation to be awarded to the actual proprietors of slaves ;
but they have assumed, that the wages may be such as that they shall
be at once moderate and reasonable to the planter, sufficient to cover
the interest of the original indemnity, as well as the sinking fund for
its gradual extinction, and at the same time enable the government
to reserve a portion of the wages for the use of the labourer. In the
absence of all specification of the elementary principles on which the
calculations of the committee have been founded, it is impossible of course
to subject them to any satisfactory test ; but it is clear, that if the
compensation is to bear any just proportion with the actual value of
the- slave to his owner, and if the future wages of the negro are to
be no higher than would naturally arise from the future supply of
voluntary labour, and the relative demand for it in the market, the
extinction of the debt created by the indemnity, cannot possibly take
place in the present generatiou. The state may possibly become a
better task-master than the planter, and to that extent the condition of

152
the slaves may be improved, but until tbey shall have earned their own
redemption, and that of their posterity, together with the means of
supporting their old, infirm, and infant relatives, they will continue
substantially slaves. The enjoyment- of their freedom during one day
in the week, and the distribution among the labourers of a portion of
their wages, are purely hypothetical propositions dependent on the
success of the scheme of the committee, and the realization of the
necessary surplus from the wages, after providing for the payment of
the interest of the debt and its corresponding sinking fund.

It is expected that with the labour of one day in the week, in his
garden or provision ground, the negro will be able to maintain himself
in comfort ; and that the wages to be earned in five days of the week,
seeming Sunday as a day of rest, will be sufficient to accomplish the
final redemption of the debt, within a period however at which no
guess has been offered. The practicability of this plan would evidently
depend on a variety of conditions which have not been specified ; the
amount of the indemnity which the planter is to receive per capita for
his slaves, and the rate of wages he is afterwards to be called on to
pay. The planters would in fact be completely at the mercy of the
government, which would be invested under the system proposed, with
an absolute control over the market for labour. This controlling power
would become so excessive and so arbitrary, as to enable the govern-
ment from year to year, to regulate the balance sheets on every plan-
tation in the French colonies, and determine the amount of profit or
loss at their pleasure, independent of the separate power they possess
over the home market, in admitting and regulating the formidable
competition of the grower of beet-root sugar.

According to the plan of the committee, the care of the old and
the infirm was to be confided to their present owners, to whom also
the young negroes were to be bound under a species of apprenticeship,
which in every case was to terminate at the age of twenty-one. ' It is
not stated whether they were then to enter on the enjoyment of perfect
freedom, or were to be transferred to the care of the government, in
order to increase the redemption fund. The latter course is to be
inferred however from the line of argument maintained in the report, .
by which it is contended, that the emancipation of all classes ought to
be strictly simultaneous.

It is not to be denied that in several of the details of the plan of the

153

committee, as far as they have yet transpired, improvements have been
suggested on the course of emancipation adopted by the Parliament of
Great Britain. During the period of probation between slavery and
freedom, the interposition of the government between the master and
the labourer, would have a tendency to soften and remove many of
those causes of irritation, which made the English apprenticeship a
perpetual source of heart-burning and distrust. There would also be
the means of bringing a greater amount of influence to bear on the
education of the people, on their moral and intellectual improvement,
the observance of the marriage-rite, and the obligations connected with
it, and in various other ways, by which a sentiment of self-respect,
incompatible with the degrading and demoralizing tendency of slavery,
may be gradually instilled into the mind of the negro. The evils of
the system proposed by the committee are equally obvious. It excludes,
in effect at least, one whole generation from the enjoyment of their
natural rights. Instead of dividing the burthen of redemption between
the mother-country, the slave-owners, and the slaves themselves, as the
British Government proposed to do, in awarding an indemnity in con-
junction with the apprenticeship ; the plan of the French committee is
to throw the whole on the shoulders of the slave, compelling him to
work out his own redemption, and deferring the advent of freedom,
until that object, however remote the period, is completely obtained.
The British Parliament committed the mistake of assuming too large
a share of the burthen, relieving the slave-owner altogether, and de-
ferring the period of freedom, the instant possession of which was the
natural right of the negro, for a series of years. The people of England
never objected to the price they were paying, as long as they believed
it to be founded on equitable principles ; but as soon as they perceived
that between the large indemnity they had paid in advance, and the
unremunerated labour of the apprenticeship, the slave-owner in place
of bearing his fair share of the burthen, was to be greatly over-paid for
any loss he had actually sustained, and not content with the hard
bargain he had driven in Parliament, was resolved to convert the
last remnant of the apprenticeship, unjust in principle, and useless in
. policy, into a source of unreasonable gain, such an outcry was. raised in
England, as made it impossible for the colonists to persist in their
declared intention, compelling them in their local assemblies, to perform

one tardy act of justice without the renewed intervention of the imperial

The government and the chambers in France, have nothing to appre-
hend on this subject from popular clamour. The only pressure they
feel from without, is, that which takes its rise in the colonies them-
selves. The proximity of the English islands, and the impossibility of
much longer eoncealing the fact, that freedom is within sight and
within reach of their sla,ves, make it the obvious interest of the planters
to hasten the period of emancipation, provided they can secure for
themselves an adequate indemnity.

The arguments of the colonists are now reduced to so many dilatory
pleas, the whole object of which is to maintain the remnant of their
dominion over their slaves for as long a term as possible. Having
themselves done absolutely nothing to prepare the negroes for freedom,
they insist that a period of preparation is indispensable ; but in answer
to these objections, it has been well observed by the intelligent reporter
of the committee of the Chamber of Deputies, appointed during the
last session of the French legislature, to examine the proposal of M. db
Tracy, that to attempt to give to a slave the manners, habits, and
opinions of a freeman, and to make this a condition of his emancipation,
would be to condemn him in effect to perpetual slavery. The idea of
property can scarcely arise in the mind of a man who, in his servile
condition, is denied all proprietary rights ; and habits of industry and
foresight, are equally cut off, by the conviction, that servitude is the
inheritance of himself and his descendants. The institution of marriage,
the ties of family, and the influence of moral habits, are not to be
expected in a state of slavery. The man who is not allowed to exercise
the conjugal or parental authority, has no inducement to enter the
marriage state. Shut out alike from the rights and the duties, the
hopes and the cares of paternity, he has no inducement to incur a
fresh obligation. Eeligion with him never rises above the rank of the
grossest superstition, and its teachers he is accustomed to regard as the
allies of his masters and oppressors.

The experiment of the apprenticeship in the British colonies generally,
compared with the want of it in Antigua and Bermuda, has proved to
demonstration, how entirely useless and unnecessary it was as a means
of preparation. The reluetan.ee with which the last two years were

155

abandoned in the case of the prsedial labourers, by our English West
India planters, was never placed on the footing, that the apprentices
would be better fitted for freedom at the end of six years than of four.
The only ground on which the shortening of the apprenticeship was
resisted in 1838, was the injustice that would be done to the master,
by diminishing the indemnity guaranteed to him by law. The very
term was a nuisance. It was not to learn his trade, to dig cane holes,
to weed, to cut down the harvest, or to carry it to the mill, nor even
to skim the sugar kettles, or feed the fire, that the negro was bound
apprentice for a term of years to his former owner. The object of
the government was, that at the end of his term of service, the negro
might be found improved in morals and in powers of reasoning ; of the
master, that he himself might obtain some further compensation for the
loss of the power and the profit, of which the act of emancipation had
deprived him.

It was not till the year 1833 that local legislatures were created in
the French colonies. These bodies, however, although they represent
the planting interest by a system of election, are far from enjoying
the extensive powers exercised by the houses of assembly, in the
British colonies. The legislative power, with respect to the French
possessions, has been partly reserved by the chambers of the mother
country, has been partly conceded to the executive government, aud
partly to these Colonial councils. In all that relates to the condition
of the slave population, the power is specially vested in the Crown,
restricted only by a clause, to which the colonists are disposed to give
a very large interpretation, that in takiug measures for the amelioration
of the condition of the slave population, all acquired rights are to be
respected.

It is a serious reproach to the government of the Bourbons, during
the period of the restoration, that the slave-trade was never seriously
disturbed. Laws were passed indeed, in 1818 and 1827, by which the
trade was nominally prohibited; but the toleration and protection
which it practically received at the hauds of the local authorities, afford
sufficient evidence that the governments of Louis xviii., and Charles
x., were either deceived themselves, or knowingly pursued a system,
by which they expected to deceive either the French people, or at least
the rest of the world.

It is to this cause alone that the continued opposition of the French

156

colonists, to any system of emancipation that lias yet been proposed,
may fairly be ascribed. Relying on the resource of a constant supply
of cheap labour, by means of the slave-trade, the French planters had
then just as little interest, as the Spanish planters have now, to attend
to the physical wants of their negroes, to keep them in health and
strength, to prolong their lives, and to promote, by the improvement
of their morals, and by regular marriages, the re-production of their race.
During the last six or seven years, it is not to be denied that in these
respects, more especially at Martinique, a great improvement has taken
place. Of this improvement the planters are willing to assume the
whole of the merit, whereas it ought to be ascribed, without any
deduction or qualification to the practical interdiction of the slave-trade.
Up to the period of the revolution of 1830, the suppression of the slave-
trade was resisted more strenuously, and denounced more earnestly, as
the signal of the ruin of the French colonies, than the abolition of
■ slavery itself, at the present moment, or at any intervening period.

So recently as 1833, a number of distinctions continued to exist
under the provisions of the Code Noir, exaggerated by local regulations,
between the white inhabitants and the free people of colour. These
distinctions were legally abolished by the law of 1833, which, however,
was not strong enough to bring the two classes of the free population,
so widely separated by the prejudice of colour, into social or friendly
contact with each other. The habits of personal equality, so deeply
seated in the manners of the French people, made this social distinction
only so much the more offensive to the numerous and intelligent class
who are wounded by it. The measures of police, affecting the artizans
of Martinique, introduced by Admiral Mackan, were naturally regarded
as giving a sort of official sanction to the social degradation of the
coloured inhabitants who- did uot fail to ascribe the Admiral's subse-
quent promotion in the navy, to the success with which he had 'courted
the favour of the colonial aristocracy.

Between the enactment of the Code Noir, which was issued in the
form of an edict in 1685, and the final and practical abolition of the
slave-trade, a number of regulations were introduced, having all the
force of law, by which the manumission of individual slaves was made
as dirficult as possible, complicated by formalities, restrained by taxes,
and subjected to the sanction of the local authorities, which was often
refused, on the ground that the manumitted slave might become a

157

burthen on the community. It is to the government of Louis
Philippe, that the negro inhabitants of the French colonies are indebted
for the means of simplifying the process, and verifying the fact of
manumission, as well as of suppressing the incidental expenses. The
official sanction which is still interposed, has now exclusively for its
object, the authenticity and regularity of the operation. Still, however
great the obstacles to the legal right under the old practice, of a manu-
mitted slave to his freedom, it was of course impossible to prevent a
master, who was willing to abandon his dominion, from conferring on
his slave all the practical benefits of freedom. In this way there arose
a numerous class in the French islands, bearing the name of patrones
or Hires de Savanes, at Martinique and Guadaloupe, and of Cartes
blanches, at the Isle of Bourbon, who although slaves in the eye of the
law, had ceased to have any master, aud were therefore practically free.
The royal ordinances which were passed on the 1st of March, 1831, and
12th July, 1832, gave this class a legal right to their freedom ; and the
numerous manumissions which have since been constantly appearing in
the Colonial Gazettes, are not necessarily, therefore, the result of an
increasing disposition on the part of the proprietors, to abandon their
rights, but are in fact, the accumulated fiuit of the great mass of the
manumissions which have taken place, during a period of at least 150
years. According to an estimate which was made in 1836, the number
of individuals who had become entitled to the legal recognition of their
freedom, amounted in the two islands of Martinique' and Guadaloupe,
to at least 13,000.

As long as the slave-trade was prohibited by law, and was at the
same time practically tolerated in the French colonies, there was a
strong disinclination on the part of the dominant class, to the ordinary
operations which were necessary to ascertain at stated intervals, the
exact numbers of the slave population. In the Spanish colonies this
dislike has not been manifested in the same degree ; but this fact is
to be ascribed to the conviction of the Spanish planters, that their
government has really no desire to interfere with the slave-trade, but
on the contrary, believes its continuance to be a sort of political
necessity indispensable to the maintenance of the power of the mother
country, over the last of her transatlantic possessions. The French
planters are opposed also to the census, on account of the capitation
tax, which has long been imposed on the negro population. Accus-

158

tomed to treat their slaves as personal property, they are eompelled also
to regard them as a taxable eomrnodity, the amount of which they
have no desire to communicate to the officers of the revenue. By the
existing regulations, the owners of slaves are required under severe
penalties, to make annual returns of their numbers, and of other
details, to the munieipal authorities ; besides a speeial return of births,
marriages, and deaths, within a limited period after they take plaee.
For several years a good deal of distrust continued to be manifested, in
eonsequence of the imperfeet nature of these returns; but since 1836,
the loeal authorities appear to have overeome the difficulty, representing
the royal ordinanees as at least in vigour, although the result of the
annual eensus was not yet so eomplete and satisfactory as eould be

After all, however, the Freneh eolonial authorities have really no
means of appreciating the aeeuracy of their returns.

The more general use of the plough in Martinique and Guadaloupe,
has contributed, in connexion with other causes, to soften the hostility
of the colonists to the proposed measure of emaneipation. A single
plough is held to be equivalent to- the manual labour of fifteen negroes ;
and it is asserted, that the system of husbandry pursued in these two
islands, is at least equal to that whieh is followed in the department du
JSTord, the best eultivated of the French provinees, and proportionably
superior to the rest of the kingdom. In Freneh Guiana and the Isle of
Bourbon, the plough has seareely as yet been introduced, on aeeount,
it is said, of the nature of the soil, especially in Guiana, where it is
supposed that its use would be injurious to the numerous ditches and
canals rendered necessary by the faet, that most of the eultivated
distriets are below the level of the sea.

On eomparing the four Freneh eolonies with eaeh other, it appears
that the disproportion between the sexes is much greater in Freneh
Guiana and the Isle of Bourbon, than in Martinique and Guadaloupe,
from whence it is reasonable to infer, that the slave-trade in which the
disproportion originated, has been earried on more aetively and more
reeently in the two former eolonies, than in the two latter. Although
not openly tolerated in any of the Freneh colonies sinee the revolution
of 1830, I have had the means of satisfying myself, that there had
been some instanees of it even in Martinique, two years after that
period, and it ean seareely therefore be doubted, after a eareful exarni-

159

nation of the statistical details officially disclosed by the government,
that this atrocious traffic has been carried on much more recently both
at Cayenne and Bourbon. In questioning the delegates, this point was
strongly urged by M. Odilon Barrot, one of the members of the
committee. But the vicinity of the Portuguese possessions of Para to
French Guiana, would better explain tbe admitted disproportion than
the fact alleged by the Cayenne delegate, that the cargoes of certain
captured slavers had been landed in French Guiana since 1831, suffi-
ciently numerous to produce the difference observed there between the

The inquiries of the committee were also directed to ascertain how
far the slaves were disposed in the various colonies to amass a peculium.
The answers were, in general, such as might have been expected. The
possession of property by persons in a state of slavery, not being legally
recognized, those who have succeeded in making any savings are
generally eager to secure the enjoyment of them as speedily as possible.
In the British colonies, however, where the security of property is no
longer doubtful, I have heard it universally remarked, that the negroes
display a desire of accumulation, much stronger than is usually to be
found among the labouring classes in the mother country. The com-
mittee were greatly puzzled with the inconsistent answers received from
the delegates on the subject of tbe savings of the slaves, some asserting
that the desire was great, and the possession of a purse so general, as
to extend to two-thirds of the population ; while, at the same time, it
was left to be inferred, that the lash was the only stimulant of labour
that could be depended on. On pointing out these inconsistencies, it "
was remarked by one of the members of the committee, in terms which
would sound strangely in any other language : — " il y a done Messieurs,
une certaine contradiction dans ce que vous nous avez fait 1' honneur de
nous dire." The answer to this remark volunteered by M. de Jabrttn
is not a little curious. Ahnost all the negroes of Guadaloupe, he says,
have the means of saving money from the produce of their Saturday,
although Saturday is held to belong to the master quite as much as any
other day of the week. On that day he is not watched so closely as
on others. It is on Saturday that he is compelled to work in his garden
in order to provide for his subsistence during the week ; and if the
garden is not properly cultivated, the slave is punished. The only
3, that the lash is not impending over him when engaged at

160
his work, thus illustrating the difference between time and quantity as
the measure of labour. According to M. db Jabrun, the Saturday's
savings are compulsory, and would not be made but from the fear of
punishment.

In the Isle of Bourbon the food of the slave population is pro-
vided from abroad, and the negroes are compelled to labour on the
plantations during the whole of the week without intermission. Even
Tinder these circumstances, it is admitted that accumulations frequently
take plaee ; but these arc aseribed to any eause but a willingness to
labour, sueh as the liberality of the master, the thieving of the slave,
and the raising of poultry, and other domestic animals, which it seems
can be effeeted without much indulgenee on the part of the planter.

It is equally desirable in the Preneh islands, and in the British
colonies, as a stimulant to voluntary labour, that the negroes should be
encouraged to raise the sugar eane on the piece of the land which the
planter has every where been accustomed to plaee at their disposal, for
the purpose of raising garden stuffe and provisions. Those who are
unprovided with the neeessary implements, should be encouraged to
exert themselves by a supply of tools and manure, and even in some
cases, by moderate advances of money ; as, until habits of foresight are
created, it is not to be expected that the negro will be willing to wait
for twelve or fifteen months, and still less for two years, as in some
parts of Trinidad, until he is able to earry the produce of his industry
to his master's sugar mill. At Barbadoes the progress of civilization
and its attendant habits of providence and foresight, are so far advanced
among the negro population, that they are not only willing to wait
the tardy returns of the sugar crop, but in general, manifest such a
decided preference for the growing of canes, as often to eompel them to
buy at' an enhanced price, their own ground provisions in the market.
The eonsequenee, however, is already highly favourable to the general
prosperity of that island, and to the inerease of its exportable pro-
ductions ; a large proportion of the sugar manufactured in Barbadoes,
not less I have been assured than ten per cent, of the whole, being the
produee of the eanes thus raised in the negro provision grounds.

There seems to be no good reason, in faet, why this principle should
not be earried a great deal further than has ever yet been suggested in
West India husbandry. The division of labour between the culture
of the cane and the manufacture of the sugar is easy and natural.

The

161
present practice although nearly universal, is only a proof that the
business of sugar-making is still in its infancy. The process of manu-
facturing sugar is not more intimately connected with the growth of
the cane, than the business of the London brewer is with the raising
of hops or barley; andif the sugar manufacturers in Prance had been
restricted to the use of the beets they had grown on their own estates,
with the aid of their own labourers, that formidable rival to the sugar
planter in the French West Indies, would, perhaps, never have been
able to establish itself so firmly with all the aid and protection it has
hitherto received from the government.

The beet-root sugar manufacturer has no need, any more than the
brewer or distiller, for the possession of land beyond the walls of his
establishment ; and in all probability, before many years are over, the
same course of proceeding will be adopted in the sugar colonies, where
a separation of the business of the manufacturer from that of the
planter, would doubtless be attended with the same beneficial effects.
The erection of a sugar manufactory in the northern departments of
Prance, and in other countries of continental Europe, where the business
is practically understood, is received by the farmers in the neighbour-
hood invariably and infallibly as a security and a pledge, that if they
raise a field of beet-root, a market is open to them, the advantages of
which will bear an exact proportion to the shortness of the interval
between the one and the other. The same thing would undoubtedly
happen in the "West Indies, if a sugar manufactory were set down in
a suitable situation, surrounded by the possessions of free-negro culti-
vators, who, as soon as they reach the degree of civilization, which
already prevails in Barbadoes, with the habits of providence and fore-
sight, which are its natural and immediate fruits, will not only plant
the cane in sufficient abundance, but will bring it to the mill at a much
cheaper rate, than the manufacturer himself could afford to raise it by
the unprofitable combination of two distinct branches of industry. In
several of the West India islands, English, French, and Spanish, and
even in St. Domingo, I have seen the free-negro loading himself with
yams, sweet potatoes, and other ground provisions, and carrying them
to a distance of twenty, and even five-and-twenty miles to market,
receiving not more thau a dollar, perhaps, for the whole price of his
burthen; including in that price his whole remuneratio nfor the culti-
vation of the ground, providing the seed, and last though not least,

aanying the produee to market. If the sugar-planter, under the
present system, were to establish his maehinery at a tenth part of these
distanees from the fields on which his eanes were to he raised, he eould
scarcely he expeeted to earry on his business to advantage, but by
giving the better elass of negroes an interest, more or less direct in the
produee of the erop, and by eneouraging such as have not the same
eonfidenee in the future, by means of moderate pecuniary advanees ; so
much for instanee, after the planting of the eanes, and so mueh after
eaeh of the necessary weedings, reserving the bulk of the negro's remu-
neration until he has absolutely eut down the crop and delivered it at
the mill J the advantages to all parties would probably be sueh, as to
demonstrate the unreasonableness of those who complain of the unwil-
lingness of the negro to labour, before they have convineed him that
his toil is to meet with au adequate reward. It is by sueh means as
these, and by identifying the interest of the labourer with that of the
proprietor of the soil, that the "West India eolonies are hereafter to
be rendered far more prosperous and productive, under a system of
voluntary labour, than ever they have been under the influenee of
the lash. The negro would be inspired by the feeling of a common
interest, to promote the prosperity of his landlord or his master, and
would thus himself beeorne strongly and sineerely attaehed to the soil.
By sueh means also the celebrated Fotjrrier maxim, so triumphantly
quoted by the opponents of abolition in the Freneh colonies, would
not merely be neutralized, but in the hands of its promoters might be
employed as a powerful argument against the eontinuanee of slavery : —
" Tout acte philanthropique est hors des voies de la nature s'il conduit
au declin de I 'Industrie''

Dr. BOWSING then rose to introduce the French deputation.— I have
great pleasure in performing the part allotted to me. My friends from France
have not the privilege of speaking or understanding our language. They
are men whom I have known for many years, and who have always
been engaged usefully and successfully in promoting the great principles of
liberty and emancipation. No man has devoted himself with more zeal, or
with more eloquence to that cause than our friend, M. Isambert. In the
tribunal where he occupies so exalted a station, in the Chamber of Deputies
as a representative of the French people, his voice has always been raised,
and often successfully raised, in favour of the negro slave. He is specially
selected to represent his country in this Convention, and I am sure thai , you
will welcome him with all the cordiality he deserves. The name oi M. CMj-
„ iro can scarcely be unknown to you. His history also is associated with
the most interesting struggles. He it was, Israelite as he is, who defended
the Protestants of the Garde" from the persecutions of the fanatical Catholics,

163

froni .1816 to 1825 ; he it was, who in 1830, defended the Minister of Publie

Instruction when the excited opinion of Franee would willingly have eon-

n^etd ; m ^° the SCaff ° ld J and he !t i§ "° W Wll ° is selected T "brethren to

suceesi! ma T ° ^ ^ app6a1 ' wMch * have no douM wil1 be a
suceessful one, m favour of his persecuted brethren.

M. ISAMBERT then rose and was received with the most enthusiastic
eheenng, and addressed the Convention in French, the substanee of
which was thus conveyed by Dr. Bowbing.

1™ fri ^ d be 1 giDS hy entreatin g y° ur Mnd consideration, from the em-
auXv ^ ™ der .^ c * he *>*> U*«M, being obliged to speak to an
o^K ? US m ' aDgUage n0t theh " 0Wn " He h °V es t0 have another
ZT r Ug -T 7 mUCb int ° detail on tlle ^«Son, and of furnishing
he dnnT T vf th ° Se faCtS Whieh he deems »*P°rtant, and which

he doubts not you will receive with interest. He should deem it a privilege

l^lt^™' , .? frlendS Witl Wh ° m he is as *>ciated, had the means
of gathering round them bodies like this, to whom they could state tbe evils
tllZTJ'J^ ™ hose ™ & ™™e they could employ for the furtheranee of
henZ ^ ^ f at ^ vernmellt is «> constituted, that it is appre-

hensive of an outbreak of public enthusiasm; there is a fear that public
tan T r' n °? e C T tr ° Ued ' a " d ihe eonseqneaee is, that questions impor-
tant as this have been delegated to small bodies, selected by the government
out of persons of high influence and rank. The friends of abolition in France,
It™' are de P"ved of many of the means flf co . Deration mdMllence

hlvnt no CT t f glandl ° ne SiDgk SOdet y exists in the «PiW. tut

having no branches in the provinces, it has very little means of action on the
countaym general. Still the government have done much for the eause and

that vo e u tfr' fTT \ th t f0I ' mati ° n ° f th6Se ^mmittees. He entreats
that you will not he too hasty in blaming the government for not having

It it C^r?^^ ° ne f tbe diffiCUltieS ° f that government has beef
that it has undertaken so much. In 1830, they took charge, not only of one
hutm anymo nt0l , questiong eonneeted ^ liberty /and the

oTen 1TZ anS1 ^ fr ? m ba ™£ had -ore on their hands than Ibey have
been able to aceomphsh, is one of the great causes wby they bave not done
moie up to the present moment in favour of the objeet which we have met
o promote. The Freneli feelings are so exeitable, and the government has
so nmcb apprehension of their being allowed full action on the public passions,

keSaS 1 t t JUSt ; fieati0 * ° f S ° mething wUch ma ^ iave WO-ed
hke hesitation on this question. He entreats the pnblie to remember, that
± ranee was the first nation that abolished slavery-abolished it in their own
w u + K T^ 11 ^ ln tbS C ° nvention wil l enable him to answer, and answer
well tbe ealumny, that the emancipators of the slave are only moved by selfish

Sorest f Tw r" T^T bGen SUted iQ *»»* a » d often Sd
m foieign states, that England has made ber great saerifiee in carrying eman-
cipation not from the love of liberty, not from any interest felt inVe'on-

ftSrf l^f V6 ' ?"* fr ° m S ° me C ° neealed and SOrdid motive which it is
fancied had been diseovered in the course of British legislation. But he
came here and found, that the attention of the Convention was directed not
only to the s.tuation of the blaeks in the West Indies, but that your bene-
volence expanded itself to tbe East Indies, to Ceylon, and to every part of
the world where slavery exists; be found a wide and glorious philanthropy
and if the accusation should be again repeated in the Chamber of Depute,

164

and yon should be charged with any other motive than a beneficent and
a Christian one, his voice will not be wanting in your vindication. When
the honour was done him of sending him to this Convention, he felt
that it was, perhaps, recollected that he was the individual, who, in
the year 1834, mooted in the Chamber of Deputies the question of
legislation against slavery and the slave-trade. The reward he met with
at the time was that usually apportioned to those who took a pro-
minent part in these discussions. He was violently vituperated and calum-
niated by a salaried press. The funds of the colonists were employed
to cast obloquy and opprobrium on the friends of the negro. But notwith-
standing this he persevered, and had been the happy instrument of calling
the attention of the chamber to the situation in which the free black popu-
lation of the colonies had been left. The statements then made awakened
so much of public attention, and created such an interest in the Chamber,
that they had been enabled to extend protection over the slaves, and to place
them in a very different condition from tbat in which they found them when
the question was first agitated. It was necessary that the Convention should
know why the Chamber of Deputies had been so long mute. It arose from
the want of some mighty master mind, that would devote its energies with
untiring perseverance to the subject. France had not found honorable and
distinguished men resembling those who moved the public opinion of Eng-
land. Out of doors there was no Clarkson to appeal to the people— within
the Chambers there was no Wilberforce. But still the Revolution, amid
its horrors and its glories, certainly did produce many advocates for the
slave. Condobcet, Mirabeau, Lafayette, and the Abbe Gregoire, lent
their important assistance, and something was done to advance the great
work. He was, however, anxious that the Convention should understand
that slavery and the slave-trade had never been recognized by any act of the
French Legislature. They were introduced into the colonies by particular
treaties, not by any act resembling an act of Parliament— but in fact,
by an expression of absolute power. But even so far back as the years 1315
and 1321, a monarch of France, declared that France ought to be in reality
what it is in name, the kingdom of the Franks, the kingdom of the free.
It was not till the time of Louis xm. that slavery obtaiued any thing like
an organization, when the merchants, under the pretence of colonization,
availed themselves of the services of the slaves: Its existence was ouly
tolerated never sanctioned ; and even the Code Noir, the black code as it is
called, and the name well represented its character, has many humane
stipulations in favour of the negro. It asserts in many parts that no
dishonour attaches to a particular colour of the skin ; it recognizes the
rite of marriage, and the possession of civil privileges by emancipated negroes,
and in fact, looks upon the negro with something like an eye of brotherhood.
He again called the attention of the Convention to the fact, that the existence
of slavery was due to the exercise of absolute power ; but in the time of
Henry ii. when some African slaves were wrecked on the coast of France,
liberty was given to them by that Monarch, who declared that slaves
could not exist in the country over which he ruled. One of the most
celebrated priests of France, devoted his solitary effort before the tribunals,
at a period antecedent to the Revolution, in pleading but one cause, and that,
the cause of the slave. He referred to the exertions of Neckar, before one
of the most illustrious assemblies of modern times— the National Assembly
of France, where the people were gathered together by their representa-

165

tives, after 200 years of slavery had passed over the French nation. To
that assembly, at the re-birth of their liberties, and the organization of their
Institute, Neckak addressed these words, "The time will perhaps come,
gentlemen, when you will carry your interests further ; the day will arrive
when you will assist with your representations, the deputies of the colonies of
France, you will throw a look of compassion upon that unfortunate people
whom you have tranquilly made a barbarous object of your commerce ; on
those^ men, alike to yourselves in thought, and especially in the sad pre-
rogative of suffering ; on those men, whom without any regard for their
mournful complainings, you packed up in the bottom of a vessel, over whom
the sails were spread to convey them to the place where chains were waiting
for them. But what nation is more called upon than the French to soften
slavery, which you consider necessary. No nation knows better the evils
inseparable from the slave-trade j evils which produce devastation in two
worlds. "What greater claim is there on you than to turn a friendly regard on
men who might aid us in our civil liberties ? One distinguished nation has
already given the signal of enlightened compassion. Already there cau
be no doubt, in spite of party politics, the supreme cause must be brought
before the tribunal of nations. What higher satisfaction, what greater glory
than that the States General should have the presidency in the midst of
an enlightened age. But woe, woe, and shame to the French nation, if she
does uot recognise the importance of her position— if she does not seek
to become worthy of it, if such an ambition were too great for her capacity."
My friend refers to the great impression which was made on the national
assembly, by a few words uttered by the illustrious Lafayette. They
were to this effect, " You have declared, that all men who have a domi-
cile, who possess a dwelling, who pay the taxes, and against whom you can
urge none of the incapacities which are declared by the constitution, that
these men shall be citizens. And are not the negroes men % The question
is condensed into this. For me, I believe no doubt can be raised on this
point ; and it was to proclaim this simple truth that I mounted the tribune."
The declaration was received with shouts of applause, and produced a pro-
found impression on the assembly and the nation. But unhappily that revo-
lutionary torrent, which soon afterwards succeeded, carried away all attention
from this question. Afterwards, indeed, on the flags of St. Domingo, these
words were inscribed, "Brave blacks! France recognises your rights and
your liberties." But after the peace of Amieus, Buonaparte, who had not
experienced then the lessons of adversity which he afterwards received
re-established slavery and the slave-trade. At that time, public opinion had'
so little representation in any of the bodies nominally representative, that
they could by no means control the act of the Sovereign. Subsequently,
however, to the fall of Buonaparte and his second rise, during the 100 days
of his government, one of the acts that distinguished him, and probably of all
his acts, that which most honoured him, was his decree which abolished the
slave-trade. The miseries and sufferings of the slaves at St. Domingo, and
the temporary liberty enjoyed at Guadaloupe, much advanced the ques-
tion. In the year 1814, during the reign of the Bourbons, a law exceedingly
unfavourable to the slaves was passed, which prohibited marriage between
the blacks and whites, and the absurd plea was urged as a motive for this
legislation, that the marriages between the Moors and Christians in Spain
had caused degeneracy in the Spanish blood. In 1823 and 1824, some pro-
gress was made, in consequence of many public discussions on the subject,

166

and it was again introduced into the Chambers. But in 1830, in consequence
of the last revolution, the slave-trade was utterly and formally abolished.
He anticipates that the abolition of slavery will be a necessary consequence
of that step. They were menaced with the consequences of agitating the
question ; they were told that if it were mooted again in the French Cham-
bers, the consequence would be outbreaks, violence, and revolutions in the
colonies themselves. But the answer to that is to be found iu the fact, that
the colonies have never been so tranquil, as since the period when this agita-
tion commenced. Of late two very interesting reports have been drawn up
and laid before the Chambers, emanating from men distinguished alike by
their high social position, one being M. Bemusat, the present minister of
the interior, and the other by M. de Tocciueville, the author of" Democracy
in America." These reports establish principles, the developments of which
cannot but lead eventually to the overthrow of slavery. They state, that though
they should not be unwilling to consider the question of indemnity, yet they
will not recognise the claim to indemnity as a right, or that man can fairly
possess a property in man. The principle appears to him already triumphant,
and you may consider the cause as really gained. Even in the colonies them-
selves, public opinion has made great progress, and his friend General Ber-
tband, who accompanied Buonaparte to St. Helena, and who is himself a
considerable "West India proprietor, has informed him that matters cannot
remain as they are, and that ere long the great cause must have a victorious
issue. There will, no doubt, be great resistance to such a step in Martinique,
but he anticipates great results from the growing influence of the free-coloured
population. In Guadaloupe there is less resistance, and the deputy who is
now in Paris, is sanguine in his anticipations of the final and complete
overthrow of slavery. French Guiana is incapable of offering a long resist-
ance, and though in the island of Bourbon the slave proprietors are very
influential, still he does not believe, that when the voice of France shall
speak out, that voice will not be heard ; and that the will of France declared
by her legislature can by any possibility be resisted by her colonies. He de-
sires to introduce M. Cremteux to the Convention. He comes from a body
whose civil rights have been recognised in France. They are really in a poli-
tical position perfectly equal to that of their Christian brethren. One of the
body is at this moment a member of the Chamber of Deputies. The Jews
have been raised to the highest seats of the magistracy, and he anticipates
that his friend, at no distant time, will be inevitably called to labour with him
in the glorious cause of emancipation in the legislative assembly of France.

Mr. JUSTICE JEREMIE, (from Ceylon).— One point in M. Isambert's
address has escaped Dr. Bowring, namely, that in Martinique the free
coloured population now go hand in hand with the slaves.

M. CREMIEUX then addressed the Convention in French, which Dr.
Bowring thus translated.

I cannot express to you, gentlemen, the emotions which I feel at this
moment, the most overpowering feelings penetrate my heart, and entirely
overcome me. First, I feel the most profound admiration for those English
customs aud manners which have given to the spirit of association such
irresistible power of proclaiming its objects, nobly, and in the face of the
world — objects the most liberal and most worthy of the enlightened age
that has approved^ and adopted them, a spirit of association, which onr
laws, I am. sorry to say, prohibit, to the sorrow and despair of all those

w.

generous men, who in France eall loudly for the abolition of such n
enaetments. I feel also overpowered by the thought that an Israelite should
appeal' in this assembly, where he has been received with so mueh favour, to
demand with an enthusiasm equal to yours, the abolition of slavery. All
liberties are united, and all persecutions are associated. Persecute, and you
will make slaves ; proclaim the equality of all, and you will create citizens.
It is thus that your O'Connell, (whom we should envy to England, if the
glory of England at this moment was not amalgamated with that of Franee in
this great work) in demanding complete equality for Ireland, proclaimed at
the same time the principles of humanity and justiee, and has rendered for
the future all persecutiou impossible against men who eonquered equality for
themselves.

ise to order. A reference has been made to
to embraee the whole eommunity of England
grateful for the labours of Mr. O'Connell, in
; but I cannot join a society which has any-

try; supposing
danee with the
t to our friend

Eev. J. H. JOHNSON,—]
exertions in Ireland. We wi
without respeet of parties. I i
the cause of negro emaneipati
thing political in it.

Dr. BOWRINGr.— Our friend eomes from a foreign coi
that he should utter a sentiment which is not quite in acet
feeling of some members of the Convention, I would put
whether it is desirable that he should be iuterrupted.

Rev. J. Ii. JOHNSON— I am perfectly satisfied with the explanation
given, — the geutleman is a foreigner. I do hope, however, that in eonncxion
with this subject, party polities will not be introdueed.

M. CREMIEUX resumed.

I feel great pleasure in joiniug this Convention, because I am a de-
scendant of those Hebrews who were the first to proclaim the abolition
of slavery ; and I this day only repeat what the Jews have always ad-
mitted in priuciple. Indeed, it is not without interest that I now recall
to your recollection, that it was the seet of the Essene whieh first de-
elared slavery to be a erime, and that it was, to use the expression of
Josephtjs, a perpetual cause of perturbation for the state. In. this assembly
this must entitle them to the highest glory ; and, I may add, that Jesus
Christ himself, considered as a great legislator and moralist, has derived the
principles of Christian charity from the mild and pure rules of the sect of the
Essenes.* And yet these very Jews, who proelaimed the abolition of slavery,

* M. Cremieux speaks as a Hebrew, holding the divine origin and present
authority of Judaism, and not reeognising the religion of our blessed Lord
and Saviour Jesus Christ ; but it would be a mistake to suppose, and a misre-
presentatiou to assert, that the Convention gave its slightest sanetion to the
disparagement of Christianity. There were no symptoms of assent to this part
of Mons. C.'s address, by those who understood him when speaking in his mm
language, nor again when these sentiments were translated into ours by Dr.
BowniNG ; on the contrary, a general and decided indication of disapproba-
tion and denial was given by the assembly. This in fact was the case, when-
ever in the eourse of debate, a sentiment escaped any speaker, which went in
the slightest degree to impugn either Christianity itself, or any of its grand
and distinguishing doctrines : and though the Convention was ealled on public
grounds,and for an object whieh is interesting to philanthropists of every nation
under heaven, and of every form of religion, it may be affirmed unhesitatingly
that its charaeter, spirit, and proceedings wero deoidedly Christian.— Editors.

who have conferred on Christianity one of its most worthy titles to glory ;
these very Jews have themselves, in more recent times, been held as slaves
even in Christian countries. What emotions must I not experience, in
coming here .to- join my voice to those which are raised to demand the
abolition of slavery ! And permit me, without digressing from the subject of
my discourse, to add, that the Jews were the first to abolish human sacrifices,
and to turu away with horror from the shedding human blood in their
religious ceremonies ; and yet, at this moment in the East, in those very
countries in which their religion — the basis of every other — was first pro-
claimed, a horrible calumny, resuscitated from the barbarian ages of the
West, accuses them of shedding Christian blood as a matter of religious duty,
to moisten the unleavened bread of the Passover. It is true — and I take the
earliest opportunity of acknowledging it — that in this country, civilized
England, the nation, the press, the government, have shown themselves
indignant at this base calumny ; and I perceive, from the approbation which
you now manifest, that you repudiate it with the contempt it deserves. Yes,
persecution engeuders slavery. Yes, all persecutions are akin to one
another, and this was well understood by that [venerable Bishop Gregoire,
who, while he raised his voice in favour of the emancipation of the blacks,
at the same time demanded the emancipation of the Jews. Well, in this
assembly of Christians, here is a Jew who demands for the blacks the com-
plete abolition of slavery. His enthusiasm is equal to yours ; aud his words
have been listened to by you with the truest sympathy. Besides, is there a
cause more worthy of public favour ? When God created the first man and
woman, after he had laid the foundations of a future society, ' in these words
"Increase and multiply," he said to man,— displaying the whole of nature
before him — "This is thy patrimony, this is thy kingdom ; earth, and all its
animals are submitted to thy power." But where do we find that the Creator has
said, " upon this earth which I deliver over to thee, two races of men shall exist
at the same time, the one, absolute and master, because he has a white skin ;
the other, a slave and obedient, because he has a black one. Two classes of
the same creature shall be spread over the world ; the one, shall be called the
class of the oppressors ; the other, the class of the oppressed. All shall
possess the same life, and the same breath of life shall animate your bodies ;
but among you, the one class shall cast the other's fetters, and shall sell their
brethren iu the public markets as brute beasts 1 " The slavery of man by man
is a perpetual crime against humanity. Cast far from you those absurd
accusations which would degrade one part of creation. Persecutors are ever
fertile in arguments to give a colour to their oppression. The ■ blacks, say
they, are of a degraded nature, their degenerate race can never be raised to
an equality with us, they cannot understand liberty ; a maxim as false as it
is immoral. It is slavery which degrades human nature, because liberty is its
law, its patrimony. Instead of keeping the blacks in a state of degradation,
open for them the career which Providence has given to all men ; raise them
to an equality with yourselves, and they well know how to preserve their
level. Slavery occasions vice— it is not vice that is the cause of slavery.
Would you wish an historical example in proof of this 2 Look at the country
of the arts, of civilization, of letters. Look at Greece. Oh, how noble, how
grand was she in her sacred times of liberty ! What has she become in a
state of servitude ? Say, can you recognise in the Greek slave the desceudant
of Leonidas, or Pericles? Abolish slavery, proclaim equality, it is a noble
and glorious mission. This glory, this mission, henceforth belongs to the

alliance of two great nations, who, long divided by warfare now united in the
cause of the civilization of the world. With what. eclat will the words of
England and of France be received by the nations of the world ! How sub-
limely have they been already re-echoed from that very continent of America
where so many private interests oppose the emancipation of the blacks • and
where so many generous hearts attend only to the sacred interests of
humanity ! See with what transport their representatives unite themselves in
this Hall, to their brethren of England and Frauce. Yes, we shall attain this
glorious object by our holy alliance. I say not this from vanity, but from a
just, and honourable, and proud confidence. It is an ^controvertible truth.
To the united will of France and England proclaiming the equality of man-
kind, who could now resist? To the united will of France and England pro-
claiming the abolition of human slavery, what power could oppose an
obstacle ? Here I pause. I will not trespass further on the attention you
have so kindly extended to me, and I shall ever consider as the happiest day
of my existence, that in which I have been permitted to give utterance to my
sentiments in such an assembly as the present. I shall dwell with delight on
the recollection ; from this moment my life will acquire in my own eyes,
more consistency, and more real importance than it has ever hitherto
possessed.

M. ALCIDE LAURE, briefly addressed the Convention in French, Dr.
Bowbino again translating as follows —

After the illustrious orators you have just heard, and whose sentiments
and sympathies have been explained to the Convention with so much talent
aud intelligence by Dr. Bowuing, it may, perhaps, be deemed presump-
tuous on my part to be desirous of occupying that place from whence,
ftw the last three days, so many of the illustrious men, both of Great
Britain and America have addressed the Convention. But I feel the neces-
sity imposed upon me, in the name of the young magistracy of France, of
whom I am the organ, of addressing a few words to the Convention, to express
the great interest I feel in the question. Yes, the time of the abolition of
slavery is at hand. The present memorable manifestation of the opinion of
the world, must at length affect the conscience of the governors of that
world ; and those who have now neither name, nor family, nor nation, will
be re-instated in their name, their family, and their freedom ; and to the
eternal honour of England, it will be recorded to the remotest ages of the
world, that this great assembly which has so nobly discussed the important
question of slavery, assembled in 1840 in her metropolis; and that the
emancipation of the black and coloured races was accomplished in the nine-
teenth century, as the work of God through the progress of civilization.

Mr. JUSTICE JEREMIE.— As you are now discussing the subject of French
slavery, or rather slavery in the French colonies, I think I can, with propriety
address a few words to the Conventiou. It so happens that I have held office
in those colonies which formerly belonged to France, but which now form a
part of the British empire ; and that I am consequently intimately acquainted,
not only with the system which did prevail in those colonies, but with that
which still prevails throughout them ; aud being thus conversant with their
laws and regulations, I have no hesitation in saying, that every reason that
could be gh . n for the abolition of slavery in the British dependencies, exists
with equal force for abolishing it among our neighbours. My friend, M.
Isambert, has well observed, that the Coih Noir, however atrocious, c

170

certain clauses favourable to the negro ; but lie might have added, that under
the debasing effects of slavery, those clauses were all but repealed by sub-
sequent enactments of the greatest cruelty ; and where they still exist in
words, popular prejudice has rendered them nugatory in effect. He has stated
one strong fact, that the Code Noir allows of marriages between the blacks and
the whites j but he is also, in common with myself aware, that not only were
these marriages subsequently prohibited by public opinion ; but that even after
the peace of Amiens, after great aud glorious principles in favour of the negro
had been promulgated in this country for years as well as in France, a clause
was inserted in their regulations by which coloured persons were at liberty
to leave property to the whites, but the whites were prohibited from leaving
property to coloured persons, though free. I shall now address a few words
to this assembly with reference to the general principles, by which it strikes
me they should be guided in their endeavours to obtain the total annihilation
of slavery. To maintain any distinction of colour or of race, to make any
attempt whatever to bolster up slavery permanently, by introducing regula-
tions called ameliorative, is vicious and erroneous. I know this from personal
experience. I introduced such measures into our colonies, aud can bear tes-
timony to their ultimate failure. It is true that the manufacture of sugar in
our colonies is at the lowest ebb ; but whence does this arise 1 Immense
quantities of sugar were grown there long before those extraordinary contri-
vauces in machinery were made at home, which have raised Manchester aud
Liverpool to the position those towns now occupy. Why then is the manu-
facture of the colonial staple still in its infancy 1 Man was free at home, but
his energies were borne down by oppression in the colonies. So even
during the short period that liberty has existed, there is a great improvement
in these matters in the colonics themselves. In proof, I shall mention an inci-
dent which has come uuder my own observation. Seven or eight years ago, a
gentleman, a large proprietor of slaves in some of our dependencies, though
warmly inclined in favour of the slave system, had penetration enough to
perceive that public opinion would shortly lead to its destruction ; he, there-
fore, adopted precautions in time for a change which he knew was inevitable.
He went among your agricultural population, and selected, as labourers, men
recommended by a certificate from a clergyman, and most of whom had gained
agricultural prizes. He engaged them as farm servants for seven years, and
they proceeded to his establishments in the West Indies. I met him a few
days ago, and being anxious to ascertain the effect of his experiment, I asked
him how it worked. He informed me that two men were now doing with
the plough what ten men could not formerly accomplish with the hoe. This
is one of the effects of entire emancipation. That there has been a diminution
of sugar cultivation throughout the colouies I acknowledge is a fact ; but
when I am told' that it is a proof of the failure of emancipation, I beg to
remiud my informants, that this was foretold before emancipation took place,
as one of its necessary cousequences, and as a certain proof that emancipation
would not be a failure. Of whom was the working population of the West
Indies composed ? Why, one-half of them were women ; and if the men were
fit for freedom, they would never suffer women to be driven to the labours of
the field. This accounts for a diminution of near one-half of the labourers.
Again, what was the labour-system adopted in the colouies ? A system of com-
plete monopoly. Sugar and coffee were produced anjd cultivated, while shoes,
chairs, tables, and every household article were obtained from home. But
what was one of the first effects of freedom ? The abolition of those restrictions

171

which prevented men from engaging in the employments n
and profitable to them. The negro now works for the man who will supply
him best with the articles he most needs. Is that a favourable or an unfa-
vourable result ? Does it show that the negro is fit or unfit for freedom ?
And now, what is the definitive result of this measure ? It is satisfactory, it is
glorious ; for although exportation has in some degree diminished, your
imports, including everything administering to the comfort and well being
of the people, arc rapidly increasing. That exportation, the fruits of coercion,
all that was gained by the lash is, thank God, the only thing which has dimi-
nished, and even this diminution will be but temporary. I shall conclude by
bearing my humble testimony to the importance of the services of those two
gentlemen who are delegated by the French society, with one of whom I have
had the happiness of being acquainted for some years, and who have addressed
the Convention, Messrs. Isambert and Cremiebx. I, for one, never can
forget the effect produced throughout the islands with which I have been
connected, by the manly, able, bold, and independent addresses of my friend
M. Isambert, not only at the tribune, but at the bar. All that could be
said was said by him, in defence of the rights of our coloured and enslaved
fellow-men. It is only his own delicacy which has induced him, as a French
magistrate of the highest distinction, to withhold, in the interesting account
he has given yon of French philanthropy, one important fact, that whilst the
name of Granville Sharpe will ever continue dear to lis, from his having
first proved that slavery could not co-exist with British laws ; the highest
courts in France had, forty or fifty years before, established the same
principle. A negro having been brought to Paris by a French colonist,
claimed his freedom as a matter of right, and the courts of France, after very
mature deliberation, affirmed his claim. These are facts which I was con-
vinced yon would be glad to hear ; I wiU not further occupy your attention,
as each individual is very properly limited to time. All I can do is, to state
the result of my experience, others can discuss principles much better than
myself. When a day or two ago yon were engaged in considering the question
of slavery in India and Ceylon, I would cheerfully have taken a part in the
debate, had it not been that I am in official employment in that part of the
world ; and I hold it my duty to prove worthy of that employment, by
shewing fidelity to my employer. And all the knowledge which I have
obtained of slavery there, has been the result of official information con-
veyed to me in the public capacity which I still hold. Official employment,
however, has not changed my heart ; and although I cannot communicate
facts on this subject, my hopes, my wishes, and my prayers are always with
yon. I had forgotten to make an observation with regard to the other
gentleman who has addressed you, from France, M. Cremieux. He is a
man distinguished for his liberality, and for his eminent philanthropy. And
let me add, that in him yon have seen the author of some of the most
splendid specimens of oratory of modern times. My friend Mr. O'Connell
if he will allow me to call him so, has just mentioned to me, that the only
instance in which all the Catholic members have ever voted together, was
when the emancipation of the Jews was mooted in Parliament. They all
concurred in granting it. Does not this prove the truth of M. Cremieux's
opinion, that the result of oppression always is, and always will be, to cause a
re-action, and thns to promote an ardent love of that liberty by which alone
the happiness of the world can be secured. We have here then the Jew advo-

172

eating negro freedom ; we have the Catholic advocating Jewish liberty, and
let me add for myself, that you have a thorough Protestant in heart and in
spirit, maintaining the cause of liberty of every sect, colour and nation.

Rev. W. KNIBB.— Though it is not my intention on the present occasion
to go into a full discussion of the glorious results of negro emancipation, I
could not forbear requesting that I might trespass for a moment or two on
the attention of the Convention, to confirm the statement which has been
made by the distinguished individual who lias just sat down, namely, that the
diminution of sugar is not at all to be connected with the want of prosperity
in the West India islands. The fact is, as he has distinctly stated, one
cause of that diminution is the proper, the just withdrawal of females from
the cultivation of the soil ; and one of the charges so generally brought
against missionaries of differeut denominations, and also against Sir Lionel
Smith, was this, that he with them used his influence in bringing about this
much desired result. Never shall I forget the magnanimity of Sir Lionel's
reply, which ought to be emblazoned in letters of gold. When he was
requested by the Secretary of the Colonies to answer this charge, all he said
was this, " I prefer the dictates of humanity to the policy of short-sighted
planters." And we prefer those dictates too. But if this Convention for oue
moment supposes, that the prosperity of the island of Jamaica depends upon
the uurnber of hogsheads of sugar which she ships to Eugland, you entirely
mistake the matter. The fact is, that in connexion with our own denomi-
nation alone, a thousand persons have already become freeholders ; and if we
cau but procure the disallowment of those iuiquitous laws, which I hope on a
future occasiou to bring before you, in a very few years, we shall have the
elective frauchise so much extended, that we shall have the power of return-
ing as many black men to the House of Assembly as we please ; and we shall
be fully able, and deterniinately willing, to take care of ourselves. The
highest expectations that the most sanguine of the human race could have
formed of emancipation have been more than realized. Vagrancy is unknown,
a black beggar I have not seen, a pawnbroker's shop exists not through the
island of Jamaica, the treadmills are turned rusty, and the gaols have been
white-washed. But while there has been on the part of the peasautry an
almost uuiversal willingness to labour wherever they have been fairly remu-
nerated for it, the black man thinks that he lias quite as much right to
labour for himself as to labour for any body else. I will just mention one fact.

The CHAIRMAN.— This is departing from the order of business laid out
for to-day. We shall all gladly hear Mr. Knibb, and auy other gentlemau
on this subject when the time for its discussion arrives.

Rev. W. KNIBB.— I did not intend to occupy two minutes longer, I merely
avail myself of this opportunity lest there should be but few present when
my turn comes, and I should be exceedingly sorry that a statement so likely
to do good as that to which we have just listeued should want confirmation
from the largest West India island which has been set free. The fact is
this, the negroes have found that they can employ themselves more profitably
than in the cultivation of sugar ; aud a member of my own congregation has
undertakeu the repairing of roads. Instead of getting one shilling a day in
the field, by paying black persons to assist him sixpence per day more than
the planters will give them, he clears 12s. a day for himself.

Mr. O'CONNELL — The kind indulgence with which you listened to me
yesterday, is an imperative reason why I should trespass as shortly upon

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your attention as the duty I have to perform will permit. My purpose in
rising is, to propose that it he referred to a committee, to consider the proper
form of au address to the French government and the French people, on the
subject of Negro Slavery. The learned and distinguished gentleman on my
left, has told yen that the condition of the negro has heen greatly ameliorated
in the French West India colonies, and that there remains behind only one
thing, and that is the emancipation of the negroes. I think that one thing is
rather a considerable one. If we could get that, we might easily forgive them
the rest. He has also told you that the Code Now contains most salutary
regulations in many points, respecting conduct towards the negroes. But
there is, I think, a postscript, and a fahlc in .iEsop shews to what it amounts.
When the wolves were made commanders and protectors of the lamhs, the
regulations to come into operation a fortnight hence for the protection of the
lamhs were most excellent, hut the wolves ate them "before the fortnight had
expired. That must really he the case with all regulations put into the hands
of slave-owners. It is literally employing the two-legged wolves to take care
of the lamhs. I was not a little pleased with the speech of my learned and
respected friend, the judge, who sits next me, for I am proud to say, that we
have heen friends of some years' standing, and have heen made so from the
sympathy we hear to the same sacred cause of human liberty. The French
colonies require oue thing, that is the emancipation of the negroes. Every
thing else is idle ; every thing else is ludicrous ; you have done every thing,
when you do that ; unless you do that, you do nothing. Emancipation is the
one thing necessary. Let me point out to the Couvention the situation of the
French colonies, with respect to their slave population. I will first take
Martinique. It is quite true, as has been stated here, that the negroes of
Martinique were emancipated during the French revolution, hut it arose more
from the absence of tyranny to restrain them, than from a legal recognition
of it. Buonaparte, after the treaty of Amiens, sent a large force to the West
Indies to re-couquer slavery, and compel men free to be enslaved again.
There is a mighty magic about military names, but I cannot forbear protesting
against glory being attributed to men who wade through slaughter to a bad
eminence. Men necessarily familiarised with shedding human blood, may be
fit to^ be hailed as conquerors, but they are, in my opinion, the essential
enemies of civilization. I mention the re-conquest of Martinique only to
state this fact ; the unfortunate negroes did not willingly submit to be again
reduced to slavery. Being freemen, they did what Englishmen would do,
they fought for freedom, and they defended themselves to the last. Being
overpowered by numbers they were driven to the mountain fort ; five hundred
and fifty who survived, consulted what measures they should take. They
defended the place until the French troops made a breach, and when the French
entered, the negroes blew themselves up, and left the survivors to trample over
their dead carcases. This fact shews that we are quite safe in leaving to our
negroes the protection of their own liberty, that they will most ernciently
guard it against the tyranny of white legislation. The one thousand free-
holders spoken of by Mr. Knibe, prove that they have a sense of the value of
liberty, and that they are much better left to themselves, than interfered with
by any regulations which we can make. Let America tremble in her iniquity
when these facts come before her ; for they are men, the two millions and a
half whom she holds in slavery. Their fears may give to the coloured p
lation, that which their humanity would refuse. In Martinique there w

d popn-

174

1837, 26,346 males, 39,666 females. Yet the marriages -were in that year, how
many ? Fifteen. The number of births was 2,303. This is an awful picture
for Christian people to behold. The number of deaths was 2,592. Those who
have directed their attention to the subject, know that in England the popula-
tion increases 15 per cent, in ten years, in Ireland Si per cent., but in Mar-
tinique instead of an increase, there is a decrease of 289 in one year. Tims
all those who in a proper state of society would have been born and brought
np are murdered — I may say in the womb, or 'strangled in the birth. In
Guadaloupe, the number of males in the same year, was 45,606 ; of females,
48,985 ; of marriages, 19 ; of births, 1,857, and of deaths, 1,883 ; a falling off
of only 26. In Cayenne or Guiana, the number of males was 8,523 ; of
females, 7,617 ; of marriages, 43 ,• of births, 297 ; and of deaths, 628 ; being
a decrease in the population of 331. The worst of all is the island of Bourbon,
the number of males was 43,763 ; of females, 24,432 ; of marriages, none ; of
births, 1,001 ; of deaths, 2,359 ; being a decrease of 1,358. In the other
colonies, the females were more than the males, here it is the reverse, the
males being nearly double the females. It can be accounted for only in one
wav — the slave-trade and the introduction of fresh slaves. In the whole of
these colonies there is a total of males, 124,238 ; of females, 120,700 ; of
marriages, 77 ; of births, 5,458 ; of deaths, 7,462 ; and of decrease in popu-
lation, 2,004. For what purpose do I use these facts ? The French nation is
literally a great nation ; arts, and arms, and science, and literature adorn it.
The French people are naturally a proud people, we think them a little vain
in addition, bnt they have many things of which to be proud. I want to place
that pictitre in the presence of the French people, to show them the horrors of
those details, the abominations of these crimes, to proclaim to them the disgrace
of continuing this system, and to call upon them, conjuring them in the name
of that passion for glory, which they allow to ran riot aud cherish to excess,
bnt above all, in the name of humanity, to terminate a system which produces
abominations not less cruel to the negroes, than disgraceful to any civilized
people. I do not mean to trespass upon you with further details, but I cannot
help remarking, that in Guiana and Guadaloupe, the free populatiou taken
together was 17,741, and that the increase of that free population iu one year
was 835. That is still more remarkable, because there was not one single
child of a black woman in that increase, they are all in the class of slaves, so
that it was literally from the white population that the increase took place,
shewing what the increase would really be if the negroes were as free as the
whites. If there had been equal liberty for all, there would have \been that
increased number of human beiugs to enjoy life and liberty, to be heirs of
eternal redemption, to do honour to man, and to glorify God. Here is a
picture ! — look on this side, and on that, and behold it exhibited in the face
of Enrope. This is the great object for which we are met together. Did
you hear the representation which Mr. Knibb gave yon of the advan-
tages of emancipation in Jamaica. Did yon take cognizance of one fact
— that only half the population labour now— that the women do not
labonr? Now who is it that protects them from the toil of that labour,
to which the females in this country are obliged, from their poverty, to
submit, in order that they may purchase food ? Look at the emancipated
negro man. He scorns to let his wife, his sister, or his daughter, work. He
reads a lesson to white men, and to civilized Europe. The man works for
wages, he leaves the wife and danghter at home. The female sex in the

175

West Indies is not disgraced by being put to occupations, which in civilized
Em-ope they are obliged to pursue. Glory be to the character of the
emancipated negro ! Oh let France read the facts— no crime has followed
emancipation no riot, and no disturbance ! Even the ready pen of calumny
has not dared to charge the negroes of the "West Indies with one single
outrage. Have they injured their former masters ? The lash was scarcely
dried with the clotted blood from the bleeding back of the negro when he
was emancipated. Did he hold up that weapon in the face of the torturer
and say, My day is come, and you shall encounter what you have inflicted ?
No, a generous and Christian oblivion was cast over the crimes of the white
man, and the negro stood emancipated, respecting the female sex, and feeliug
his soul free from the slightest taint of guilt. It is a mighty consolation to us,
even to me, the" humblest of you all, to see that result, to witness the cha-
racter of man exalted. With what have weuotbeen threatened ? Was it not
said, « Oh, don't veuture to emancipate the negroes. If you do they will outrage
our wives and daughters ; they will slaughter our children, and sacrifice our-
selves. _ We shall not be safe in the streets, nor sleep securely in our beds."
Oh, it is now only that they can sleep in safety. I challenge the enemies of
negro emaucipation to point me out a single instance of outrage. I take
Jamaica in particular— but it applies to the rest of the islands— show me one.
Why, as you have been told, the gaols are empty, the treadmills are rusty.
Even that on which Joseph Sturge saw the females tortured, the skin torn
from their feet as they huug from it — that mill was rusty with human gore— it
is rusty now from the want of exercise. These are mighty changes. What
then is the excuse for France contiuuing slavery. Let her listen to these facts.
Jamaica has proved that the Frenchman will be as safe as the Englishman.
Jamaica has proved, what ? That there will be no insurrcctiou, no violence,
uo tumult ; that the negroes will rejoice with each other and praise God for
having raised up good meu to give them emancipation. I introduce not this
subject with the hope that a selfish motive will be introduced into the French
Chambers to induce them to accede to this measure. But we are all crea-
tures necessarily affected by selfish motives. What has been the conse-
quence of emancipation ? More comfort to the negroes, less sugar for the
planter. I wish that they had as much sugar as before, because the people
of this country would then have it cheaper ; but sweet as it is, I think it is
made sweeter still by the recollection that if the negro does not make sugar
for another, it is because he is making something better for himself. The
country requires a greater supply, but we will not consent to take it from the
slave-owners, or to consume sugar the produce of slave labour. It would
be a monstrous anomaly if we did. We should then give away twenty millions
sterling for no other purpose than that of enriching other miscreants who
deal in slaves. You cannot consent to it. It would be a reward to others to
commit the crimes to which you have yourselves put an end. Let grocers
know that. Petitions have been presented to the House with the modest
entreaty to allow slave-grown' sugar to come into this country. This would
be the proper momeut for France to act. Let her emancipate her negroes
and then we will take French grown sugar. The question between colonial and
beet-root sugar may be solved in the interests of humanity ; and the French
agricultural interest,— for such are the indescribable advantages and emana-
tions of goodness and justice— may be consulted as well as the French colonies,
by opening another market for their produce. The moment they emancipate

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their slaves, that instant the universal cry for the article will compel the
government to reduce the duties on the free grown sugar of Franee. While
they eontinue in crime, sowing the seeds of injustice, they must reap the
bitter fruits of that criminality ; but the moment they take the position of
justice, all its blessings will surround them. How true it is that justice and
humanity go together. I did not intend to trespass one-half the time I have
done ; I rose simply to bring before you the state of slavery in the Freneh
colonies. I have not adduced half the details I might have done, and you
will readily forgive me for not bestowing so mueh more of my tediousness
upon you ; but I think I have done it sufficiently to convinee yon, that there
is a case made out, and that addressing itself to the honour, the integrity,
the humanity, the generosity of the Freneh nation, it will ensure us hearty
eo-operation there ; and thus we shall gain another great and mighty nation
to assist us in this cause. You never can have the slave-trade abolished
so long as slavery exists ; human cupidity will necessarily break through
every law. We shall abolish the slave-trade, not by combining in parti-
cular phalanxes amongst ourselves, excluding one and taking in another ;
but by a eombination not only wide as the British isles, and based upon the
goodness of British and Irish hearts, but extended to other mighty nations.
If we have the power and will of Franee with us, what country will dare
resist the combination, and hesitate to declare the slave-trade piracy ? The
horrible misereants of Cuba and Brazil, the greater monsters of American
slave-dealers, the clipper-builders of Baltimore who invent maehines to fly
on the wings of the wind, to earry torture and misery from the coast of
Afrieato the West Indies and South Ameriea: all these will shrink into
their native nothingness before the combined majesty of the British and
Freneh nations uniting in the name of God and of humanity, and operating
eombinedly for the liberation of the human race. I have to move,

That an address from this Convention be transmitted to the Freneh
people, earnestly impressing on them the injustiee and impoliey of any
longer tolerating the existenee of slavery in their eolonies ; and that the
following gentlemen form a eommittee, to prepare sueh address : M.

IsAMBERT, Dr. BoWRING, JoSIAH FoRSTER, G. W. ALEXANDER, and

D. Turnbull, Esquires.

Mr. TUENBULL.— I desire to say a single word in reference to the
diminution of the population in the French negro eolonies. It is well known
that sinee the question of emancipation began to be agitated with. us, more
especially during the period of our negro apprenticeship, and since its termi-
nation, several thousands of slaves have made their escape from Guadaloupe
and Martinique, to St. Lueia, Dominica, and Antigua. This fact sufficiently
accounts for the diminution of the slave population in the Freneh West India
islands, without resorting to the assumption of sueh a degree of severity in
the management of the plantations, as to produee the waste of human life,
which a mere comparison of numbers at different periods would seem to
indicate. The risks which are, however, run to reach a land of freedom,
serve to reveal the seerets of the prison-house, and tell a tale which, by all
the means in our power, we must endeavour to press on the attention of the
people and the legislature of Franee. The prevalence of the slave-trade, to a

177

much more recent period in French Guiana, and the Isle of Bourbon, than in
Martinique and Guadaloupe, aud the disparity of the sexes which uniformly
attends the practice of forced importation, appear to me to suggest the true
reason for the rapid decrease of the slave-population in these more distant
settlements.

JOHN SGOBLE, Esq.— I deeply regret that circumstances have prevented
me from appearing before you until this day. At the present moment I labour
under considerable indisposition, but I desire to be thankful that I have
sufficiently recovered to be able to meet this most interesting and important
Convention. The question of French slavery, I also regret was introduced
before I arrived: for I should have been pleased to compare notes with my
friend Mi-. Turnbull, on a subject so important and interesting to the cause
of humanity, and the welfare of thousands of the human family. I know not
what matters may have been brought under your attention this morning in
the paper read by Mr. Tuhhbull, I have no doubt that he has presented a
■correct picture of the state of slavery in the French West India colonies ; but
I regret that I am compelled to differ a little from that gentleman in the
remarks lie has just offered to the meeting, in the way of explauation, as to
the cause of the decrease of the slave-population in those colonies. It is most
true that for many years past, a considerable number of French slaves from
Martinique and Guadaloupe have found their way into the British islands,
but not so large a number during the past year, as would appear from my
friend's statement. So far as we have been able to .collect the number, it
appears that about 2000 French slaves have escaped to our colonies, and
probably 1000 more may have perished in the attempt to secure their liberty.
But this number covers a long period of time— I may say, probably from ten
to fifteen years. During the last year to which Mr. Tumbuh particularly
referred, aud to which your attention was specially called by Mr. O'Conxell,
in consequence of the vigilance exercised by the police at Guadaloupe and at
Martinique, very few indeed escaped. You will therefore consider that the
statement which has been brought under review by Mr. O'Connell contaius
an absolute fact, aud a most melancholy one, namely, that notwithstanding
the improved legal condition of the French slaves sinee 1830, through the
instrumentality, principally, of M. Isambert, notwithstanding the increase in
the comforts and protection, said to have been afforded them, a diminutiou of
their numbers is rapidly going on. May I mention another fact in connexion
with the population of the French colonies 3 It is this, that although the legal
slave-trade has for many years ceased in these colonies, there can be but little
doubt, that even up to nearly the preseut time, not a few have been illicitly
■introduced. We have positive evideuce to prove that a considerable number
of slaves was introduced in the year 1828, and we may add subsequently to
that period, so that m point of fact, I venture to assert, that withiu the last ten
years, a number has been imported equal in amount to the decrease of
population referred to in those papers. I would also beg to correct a slight
error of Mr. O'Connell in reference to Martiuique. The slaves of that islaud
never enjoyed, freedom before they passed from under the dominion of
France, into the bauds of Great Britain. Guadaloupe was no doubt the island
to which the hon. gentleman referred. St. Domingo emancipated herself.
We have proof that emancipation, in both instauces, was beneficial to the
mother couutry, to the planters, and to the slaves. Much has beeu said with
reference to the mildness of the Code Now. I take a different view of that

178

celebrated code, from the gentlemen who have addressed you. It may be
mild in some of its features, but in others it is detestable, execrable, ana
bloody. It gives immense power to the masters, and secures but little pro-
tection to the slaves. But if all that has been said in its favour were true
where is the executive principle to be found which should give it force ; and
where are to be found the men in the French colonies, who would dare to
carry its provisions into operation ? M. Isambert will beat me witness that
such men can scarcely be found. From year to year we have the moat dis-
tressing accounts of the hardships, privations, and punishments of theto
population. Even during the last year their sufferings have been as feaiful,
as were those of the slaves of the British colonies, during the worst period oi
their history. I will not, however, go into particulars on the present occasion,
having drafted a paper on the subject, which I shall place in the hands of the
Secretaries for any purpose they may think proper to employ it ihere is one
point, however, to which I should lite to call the attention of the Convention,
and especially that of the gentlemen who have favoured us with their pre-
sence from France. I refer to the scheme of emancipation, which appears to
have gained much of popular favour in that country. We, as English
abolitionists, must put upon it the brand of utter condemnation. That
scheme does not recognise the principle of immediate and entire emanci-
pation ; and it is upon that ground, and that alone, that I feel bound, m the
presence of this assembly, to bear my solemn protest against it. 1 am per-
fectly satisfied, that the negroes in the French West India colonies are as fit
for emancipation now as were those in the British colonies when the boon
was granted to them. ' I would confidently appeal to the French _ deputation
present, whether the slave population of Gnadalonpe, when entire emanci-
pation was accorded to them, was not in a more degraded condition than that
of any of the French colonies of the present day. At that period the slaves
in them were chiefly composed of iudividuals who had been brought recently
from Africa; yet these newly imported Africans were able, under a state of
freedom, not only to maintain an excellent character as freemen, but to send
to the mother country nearly as great an amount of produce, as under the
system of slavery. It is idle to talk of gradual emancipation. Man , rs fit ;fo
no other condition than that of freedom. Make him free, raise him to a level
with his fellow-men and fellow-citizens ; and I will answer for it, that whether
white or black, he will shew that he is worthy of it. There is another point
to which I beg permission to allude, in connexion with the emancipation ot
the neeroes in the French colonies, namely, the subject of compensation.
When in France I regretted to find that there appeared to be an inclination
among the most sincere friends of the slaves to give the colonists compen-
sation for his liberation from bondage. Against this I felt it to be my duty
earnestly to contend ; especially against the moustrous proposition that the
slave population should be called upon to pay in whole, or at least m part, the
price of their own emancipation. Forbid it, humanity! Forbid injustice!
Forbid it, the honour of the French nation ! Whatever may be done with
the question of compensation in France, let not the negro pay a single sous
for his freedom. Wc ask for the French slaves that to which they are
undoubtedly entitled, complete, entire, immediate emancipation - emanci-
pation without money and without price. In the address which the com-
mittee, appointed by this resolution, will be called npou to prepare, our great
principle, must be borne in mind, that our French brethren may learn, that

179

in demanding unconditional freedom for their slaves, we are asking only for
that which simple justice requires, and which they ought immediately to give.
I demand it of the French nation, in the name of our common humanity, for
the sake of the principles of natural justice and equity, which we alike
acknowledge and profess ; and ahove all, for the sake of those great principles
which I trust we all more or less recognise and revere— namely, the principles
of the Christian religion. I feel it to he almost impossihle for me to address
you at greater length at the present time, hut I have great pleasure in second-
ing the resolution proposed hy Mr. O'Connell.

Captain STUART.— Our friend Scoble has said, that St. Domingo emanci-
pated herself. I wish he would explain how it was done. My reason is
this, there is a common notion abroad, that it was effected hy bloodshed
and rebellion. I am desirous that humanity should be vindicated from that

Mr. SCOBLE.— Emancipation was accorded to Hayti in the first instance
by the French republic, and the population of that island were placed under the
control of one of the noblest spirits that ever graced the world, Todssaint
L'Ouveettjke. When I said that St. Domingo emancipated herself, I meant
merely that she repelled the efforts of Buonapakte again to reduce her to
slavery by the army he sent thither, under the command of the celebrated
General Lecleuc. With respect to the manner in which the Haytians
secured their liberties,it should be remembered, they were not the aggressors ;
they repelled force by force, they fought for freedom, and finally conquered
their foe. Thus they established their liberty ; and their laws and institutions
generally, I am proud and bold to say, will bear a comparison with those of
any civilised people under the sun. Let it not, however, be understood when
I say that the Haytians repelled force by force, and used the weapons of war
in defence of their liberty, that I for one moment am the advocate or the
apologist for physical force. I am persuaded that men can achieve their
liberties without the sword ; I am persuaded that there is no power like moral
power ; and I am satisfied that pacific principles, whenever brought to bear
in passive resistance against oppression, will be found all-powerful, and all-
conquering.

M. L'INSTANT, (a native of Hayti, but who has resided for some
time in Paris), then addressed the Convention in French, which was
afterwards translated by Dr. Bowring, as follows —

Our friend says that formerly Hayti was not known under that name,
but by that of St. Domingo. It was in 1789, that the proclamation of the
rights of man emanated from the Assembly of France. The coloured
people of Hayti interpreted this proclamation on common principles, and
claimed the rights of freemen. These were denied them. Our friend avoids
entering into details and discussions, which are too long and too elaborate
to bring before the present assembly. In consequence of the position
taken by the French nation, bloody scenes ensued in St. Domingo. A
man whose name would ever be respected, Ogee, went to Paris for the
purpose of endeavouring to obtain for them their rights. He failed in his
objects there, he was refused what he sought for, and on his return to
St. Domingo, he was seized by the colonists, and racked on the wheel. This

160

act of oppression created a spirit among the people of colour -which nothing
could extinguish, and, what may be called, " the liberty war," broke out. The
colonists, exceedingly irritated by what was taking place among the negro
population, made arrangements to deliver over the island to the English,
hoping by their assistance to be enabled to continue the system of slavery.
But the blacks united, and, as it was well known, compelled the English
to vacate the island. Toussaint L'OuvERTtmE, the first of blacks, was the
main instrument in effecting their emancipation. The success of the blacks
was followed by the general prosperity of the island. But Napoleon
Buonaparte, forgetful alike of his duty and his interest, sent a large
fleet to re-establish French domination in the island, and to reduce the
inhabitants again to slavery. Resistance of course followed. It was not
the original purpose of the blacks to throw off their allegiance to the
mother country, but this became necessary in consequeuce of the opposition
with which they met. Dessalines then arose, and conferred on the blacks
the rights of land-owners and of citizenship, introducing such laws as the
times appeared to require. He proclaimed liberty and the republic. Petion
succeeded him. Various struggles ensued, but ultimately Hayti consolidated
her government ; and in 1825, its independence was recognised by a treaty
with France. My principal object in addressing the Convention is to shew
that the detachment of the colony from the mother country, was not the
original purpose of the Haytian revolution, but grew inevitably out of the
position in which they were placed, being compelled to take up arms to resist
the French invader, who sought to deprive them of the liberty they had
enjoyed.
M. ISAMBERT then rose, and spoke to the following effect —
I wish for the honour of my country to say a few words. I am desir-
ous that this Convention should not confound the acts of the Freuch
government with the feelings of the French people. In the year 1789, the
principles of emancipation were really established in Guiana and Guadaloupe.
Martinique was not then subject to her legislation. Napoleon, however,
notwithstanding the resistance of the French people, who were always
opposed to the St. Domingo expedition, seduced by his desire of imitating the
example, aud even the faults of England, attempted the conquest of St.
Domingo, and in so doing sacrificed one of the finest armies France had ever
possessed ; the army which had effected the conquest of Italy. But though
France failed in her protest against this expedition, yet by way of making
reparation for the wrongs which her government committed, she has since
the restoration settled a pension on the widow and children of Toussaiht
L'OnvEiiTuttE.

Mr. SCOBLE.— There is one fact of which we should not lose sight in
l with Hayti. While the French Government has recognised its
ce, Great Britain to this moment has not done so. I trust that
this "fact will be borne in mind by this Convention, and that some influence
will be brought to bear upon the government in reference to this question,
which now stands as much connected with the national dignity of this
country, as with the welfare of the Haytian race.

Mr. TURNBULL— I am sorry to be obliged to differ with Mr. Scoblb,
but we have a Consul-general there. St. Domingo is an ally of Great Britain
at this moment.

181

Mr. SCOBLE.-I am quite aware that we have a representative of that
kind m the island, not, however, armed with all the powers which Consuls-
general have. At the present moment, there is under consideration a
treaty of commerce with Hayti, and the recognition of its independence
depends upon its ratification by both powers. I may also mention this fact
that in an interview which the Committee of the British and Foreign Anti-
Slavery Society had with Lorn. Palmerston, a short time since, respecting
Texas, his Lordship admitted that the independence of Hayti had not, up to
that period, been recognised. There were, he said, difficulties in the way
which, he trusted, would ultimately be removed. The reason why its inde-
pendence had not been recognised years ago was, that England had a private
treaty with France, not to recognise it till France herself should have done so

Colonel MILLEB.-Thc ouly excuse which the American government
has for not recognising the independence of Ilayti is, that if we did, we
should have a black ambassador at "Washington.

The resolution was then put and carried unanimously ; after which
the Convention adjourned.

FOURTH DAY'S SITTINGS, TUESDAY, JUNE 16, 1840.

(AFTERNOON).

J. Cr. BIRNEY, Esq., in the Chair.

Mr . ALEXANDER.-With the indulgence of the Convention, I will
proceed to state those circumstances with which I am acquainted regard-
ing Dutch slavery, and the prospect of its abolition. There has been but
little known in England, as to the extent and circumstances of slavery in the
colonics of Holland. Up to a very recent period, the principal information
we possessed was, that one colony in particular, Surinam, contained a consi-
derable number of slaves. It was believed also, thatthecharacter of Dutch
slavery was peculiarly severe. Under these circumstances it appeared desir-
able, m connexion with the objects of the British and Foreign Anti-Slaverv
Society to ascertain, as far as practicable, the extent and characterof slaverv
iu the foreign possessions of Holland, and to take such steps generally as
might promote its termination. For these purposes, within the last three
months my friend, James Whxtehorne, and myself, proceeded to Holland
It will be borne in mind, that we had considerable difficulties to enconnTer
in tlienrstplace,_we were unacquainted with the language of the people,
amon^ uhoin the inquiries were to be made ; and, secondly, we found on our
arrival m Holland, that very little was known by the habitants of that
country respecting slavery m its foreign dependencies. The subject was
almost entirely new to many with whom we conversed, and appeared to have
excited very little interest on the part of the people general We fiTt
visited the cxty of Amsterdam, where, with some difficulty, wc Loeededta

learning that the prohahle number of slaves in Surinam was about 50,000 ; hut
from information subsequently received, I am inclined to estimate then
number at between 60,000 and 70,000. Whatever xt »J ^ J D»tA
government are correctly informed on the subject, and I trust that some
Minds to the cause of abolition will be able to procure a prec.se statement
on this point. We found it still more difficult to procure an account o ^the
nnmbe/of slaves in the fewsmall West India islands ^^J^"*'
but from intelligence received since my return home, derived from a highly
™ub£ source, it appears that the whole number of unhappy bondsmen
into -various dependencies of Holland, including Surinam, amounts to from
100,000 to 120,000. It is a very interesting inquiry-what are the circum-
stances of this large slave population? My remarks rn reply te hrs
questionmust be confined to the colony of Surinam One o e-; ^J
facts connected with the state of the slave population m that colony is, ^that
the decrease in its number is not less than about five per centperjfflnum,
according to the best information we could obtain. A very small portion of
thisnumber maypossibly be accounted foi -by ^^^^Z^eZTy
the evidence of persons competent to judge, this number is mdeed extremely
small. Neither can it be alleged as a reason for this decrease, that there is a
<?reat inequality of the sexes arising from a recent abolition of thesla^e-
Lde. I have a statement of the slave population in Surinam ten years ago,
from which it appears that the number of males and females, at that period
who had arrived at marriageable years, was nearly equal,, and the same
rtai app^Ito those wl/were of a younger age. This frightful decrease
is mainly to be accounted for in this, as in every instance in which sugar
cultivation is carried on by slaves, by the amount and duration of the labour
required, particularly during the crop season, and the other evils incident to
_ - 1 ™ _ ._j..j „„_;„„„ . ii , ,i h life is sacrificed in tne

slavery.

' There are, indeed, various ways in which life

production of sugar in the West India slave

Besides that to which
r Uu "on 1 S; beeTmadl a gxeatToss of life is occasioned by females
being compelled to work in the field, at a period when their peculiar circum-
stances require every indulgence and care. Another cause of the decrease of
^population is the large number of children who die at a very early permd
doubtless from the want of that attention which a mother only can iulry
supply. I am unable to give any particular information as to the amount
of bodily suffering inflicted on the negroes. I regret that we cannot state
the number of punishments which the slaves in the colonies of Holland
are called to'endnre. It would do much towards promoting the abolition ot
slavery universally, if we could have, as was formerly the case in the Enghsh
colonies, an account at all approximating to the reality, of the number of
iuflicted under this system. It is however known that the

whin is used as'an tostranTent of coercion, in the case both of male and
female slaves. I am also informed, that in the colony of Surinam, a slave
is not allowed to wear shoes : this is one of the circumstances by which
the slave is degraded in that colony. It appears, however, that some recent
steps have been taken with the view of ameliorating his condition, and one
of these is that he is not hereafter to be separated from the person whom he
reeards as his wife. How far this may be carried into effect I cannot say, but
it is not necessary for me to state, in this assembly, that I have no confidence
whatever, that any measures which may be adopted, will materially ameliorate

183

the condition of the slave, so long as the master possesses that power over him
which is inseparable from the position in which he now stands. If from the
physical condition of the slave in this colony, we turn to consider his situation,
whether regarded in an intellectual, moral, or religious point of view, we
have still an afflictive picture before us. Little or nothing has been done for
him as regards education. As respects morality, it may be mentioned that
among the whole slave population in 1830, there were only two marriages,
and hitherto the slaves have acquired no rights by marriage. In connexion
with the subject of religious instruction, it may be stated, that there has
been in this colony, as in some others, a Moravian mission established for
many years ; but during the first forty years of its existence, they do not
appear to have had among their converts a single slave. At the end of 100
years there were only fourteen plantations, out of between 400 and 500, to
which they were permitted access. Lately through the assistance of a
Society established at the Hague, the missionaries are allowed to visit 100 of
these plantations, but this is done only ouce a month, and it frequently
happens that at these times they are informed, that it is not convenient for
them to seo the slaves, or that they can sec only a small part of their number ;
and thus the opportunity of affording instruction is entirely, or to a consider-
able extent, lost. It may, therefore, safely be stated, that very little indeed
has been done for the whole of this population. I am sorry to say, that there .
is one part of the proceedings of the Society to which I have referred for
promoting the spread of the gospel among the slaves at Surinam, which
appears liable to very serious objection, it is that they have amongst their
servants eighteen slaves ; and I should fear from the class of persons of whom
the Society is in part composed, several of whom, if I am not mistaken, are
counected with the colony, there is great danger that the preaching of the
gospel will not be fully and fairly carried out. I am the more jealous in this
respect, from understanding that to one denomination of Christians alone is
confided the charge of instructing the negroes in Surinam ; and that no other
minister of religion is allowed to take a part in the work. It may be proper
briefly to state what appears to be the prevalent feeling in Holland, in
reference to the abolition of slavery. So far as I was able to form au
opinion, the general sentiment in Amsterdam is very far from satisfactory.
We met with very few instances of cordial support and assistance in the
object of our visit in that large city, containing 200,000 persons ; and I am
deeply grieved to say, that on the part of ministers of religion among others,
there has bceu an unwillinguess to co-operate in this work. I do not say that
this feeling was uuiversal. We are to bear in mind, that the subject was new,
or nearly so, to most of those with whom the deputation conversed ; and
I trust that some, who a few months since had not given to the anti-slavery
question the serious consideration which it deserves, will after having done
so, feel it their duty to give us their cordial, decided, and valuable assistance.
I do not despair of such being the case. At Amsterdam there was one friend
in particular who did manifest a lively interest in the question, and lent us all
the assistance in his power. I may be allowed to mention the name of this
individual, J. S. Mollet, the only member of the Society of Friends, resi-
deut in Holland. From Amsterdam I proceeded to Utrecht, where, during
au extremely limited stay, I saw only Professor Ackersdyke, who manifested
a lively interest in the abolition of slavery. Our friends, Samuel Gurney,
Elizabeth Fry, and William Allen, afterwards visited Amsterdam and

184

Utrecht, and at both these towns had very satisfactory meetings. At Amster-
dam the meeting was attended by about fifty persons ; at- Utrecht by about
eighty. The fact, however, as regards an unwillingness to labour on behalf
of the slave at Amsterdam, remains as has been stated. From Utrecht I
proceeded to Leyden, where J. S. Mollet was my companion ; and there
among the few persons we saw, I am glad to say that there was scarcely any
difference of opinion as to the duty of abolishing slavery. We next visited
the Hague, and through the kind assistance of Groen Van Printseren,
had the opportunity of meeting a pretty considerable number of persons,
including several of distinction. I trust that among our friends at the Hague
some will afford important aid in the future prosecution of the anti-slavery
undertaking ; and I hope that G. Van Printsehen will be one of this number.
We afterwards proceeded to Rotterdam, where we found some zealous and
decided friends of the negro, including the English Episcopal minister, Dr.
Bosworth, (whose name is well known in this country as an Anglo Saxon
scholar), Ebenezer Miller, the English Independent Minister, and the
two ministers of the Scotch church in that town. All of these manifested
a most cordial disposition to promote the abolition cause. Before leaving
Rotterdam, a meeting was held for the purpose of communicating information
on the subject of our mission. An endeavour was made to show not only the
extent and some of the appalling circumstances connected with the actual
state of the slave-trade and slavery, that thus those who were present might
be aware of the greatness of the evil to which their attention was called,
but also to point out the very beneficial results of emancipation in the English
colonies. At the close of the meeting, the junior Scotch minister expressed
his regret, that he had not, during tbe course of the proceedings, proposed
the formation of a Society for promoting the abolition of slavery in the Dutch
colonies. I remarked in reply, that the present moment appeared as suitable
as during the meeting for taking such a step, and that if the friends of the
cause were disposed to form a committee prior to my leaving Holland, it
would afford me great satisfaction. A committee was accordingly formed.
Since returning home, I have heard, not unfrccniently,- from persons in Hol-
land, on the question of slavery, and tbe general impression on my mind is,
that the subject of slavery has recently excited considerable attention in that
country, and that there is a disposition to regard it with a view to the termi-
nation of the system. At the same time there are many doubts m the minds
of some well disposed individuals, as to the propriety of immediate emancipa-
tion. I am extremely desirous that we should do all that we can to convince
the friends of humanity in Holland, of the duty which devolves upon them
in reference to the subject which has been brought under their notice. Not-
withstanding what has been now said, there are few countries to which I
am disposed to look with more hopeful feelings, as respects the progress of
the anti-slavery cause than to Holland. There is a large amount of intel-
ligence in that land, and not a small number of individuals^ actuated by
Christian sentiments. Among these, there will, I trust, be ^ raised up men,
like-minded with those who have laboured in the work of abolition in Englaud,
who will see it to be their duty to consecrate a large portion of their time to
the deeply interesting work of promoting the emancipation of the slaves in
the colonies of their native land.

Mr. FULLER.— What sort of meetings were those at which William
Allen and the Friends attended ? Were tbey connected with this subject I

185

Mr. ALEXANDER.— I understand them to have been Anti-slavery
meetings. If it will be any satisfaction to the Convention I will read a few
lines referring to them, written by J. 8. Mollet, of Amsterdam. In a
letter to me, he says, " In the course of this excursion, though our friends
have made prisons and the houses for the insane a chief object of their
inquiries and examination, the subject of slavery has likewise had a share in
their labours of love. This has been particularly the case at this place
(Amsterdam) and at Utrecht. One of the meetings they had in this town,
and which was attended by upwards of fifty persons of both sexes, was wholly
devoted to explaining the views of the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery
Society ; and at Utrecht, in a similar assembly, where more than eighty persons
were present, nearly two hours were employed in the same way. Professor
Ackersdyke was one of the hearers, and both "William Allen and
Samuel Gurnet stated the principal events connected with the history of
this cause in England, after which I likewise gave some details on the subject
of slavery in the Dutch colonies, shewing the necessity of putting an end to
the prevailing system, even for the real interest of the owners of the planta-
tions. Besides this, we had a great deal of conversation on the anti-slavery
question with several individuals of note at Rotterdam, the Hague, Utrecht,
Zeist, and even at Zwoll ; and have every where endeavoured to shew the
necessity of procuring as much information as possible on the abuses arising
from a state of slavery in our own colonies as well as in yours, and of spreading
this information at large, through the means of our various periodical publi-
cations, which will certainly be done in a short time." I think it must be
distinctly understood from this letter, that one or more meetings held by our
friends have Been decidedly and exclusively anti-slavery meetings, and they
appear to have been of a very satisfactory character.

Mr. WILSON.— As I understand it, meetings to explain the principles on
which anti-slavery operations are based. There is no qualification about it
whatever.

Mr. ALEXANDER.— The last remark which has been made leads me to
observe, that the Committee at Rotterdam is the. only one formed in Holland ;
but I have received a letter from the northern part of that country, signed by
several influential individuals, in which they state, that in consequence of a
communication made to them, they have considered the subject of emancipa-
tion, and the conclusion to which they have arrived is, that although it is
exceedingly desirable that slavery should be immediately abolished— an event
to which they look forward with anxiety — they entertain the opinion, that at
present the slaves in the Dutch colonies are not prepared for freedom. I
believe we must allow a little time to elapse, before our friends in Holland
will be sufficiently enlightened to induce them to adopt generally vigorous
measures. I proceed to observe, that the Committee of the British and Foreign
Anti-Slavery Society was anxious to extend its inquiries into the slavery
of St. Bartholomew, an island which is connected with Sweden ; and a few
weeks after returning from Holland, while the Diet, which meets only once
in five years, was sitting, I set off for Stockholm. Very little has been
known with respect to the slaves supposed to be held under the government
of Sweden. I imagined (taking this opinion from books) that their number
was 8000 or 9000, but it appears on better information, that this was a very con-
siderable mistake. Iu Stockholm I fouud that it was very generally believed
that they amouuted to between 2000 aud 3000; but some persons thought that

wmmmm

there were no slaves in St. Bartholomew. However, before leaving the capital
of Sweden, I had reason to conclude that there were between 800 and 900
slaves in the island. In Sweden, as in Holland, the subject of slavery had
excited but little attention, but it has riot been my lot to travel in any country,
in which there has been manifested a more lively disposition to co-operate in
plans for promoting its entire abolition. It appeared to me, that in Sweden
there was a great deal of what I may be allowed to call English feeling, in
reference to slavery. At Stockholm, where I remained one fortnight, I was
present at the formation of an Anti-slavery Society, and received distinct
assurances that the abolition of slavery in St. Bartholomew should be
brought before the Diet now in session. Professor Tomander, an eloquent
member of the legislature, has stated that he would introduce a motion on
the subject in the Diet, if this was not done by some other member of that
body ; and Professor G-eieh, an eminent historian and poet, is no less pledged
to support the object in the same assembly. I had communications with
several persons of distinction, among whom were the Crown Prince and
the Archbishop of Sweden, both of whom were decidedly favourable
to the abolition of slavery. There is one peculiarity in the circumstances of
the small island of St. Bartholomew. Although it is generally supposed to
appertain to Swedeu, yet it does, in point of fact, belong to the King- of that
country, and the Diet has no direct power over it. There can, however, be no
doubt, that if the Diet were decidedly and generally to express its wish that
the system should be altered, such a cirenmstance would be likely to influence
the King-; and especially, if the Diet were further to declare that it would
gladly co-operate with the Sovereign, in any measure necessary to carry into
effect the measure of abolition. I have very little information to give as to
the condition of the slaves, but that they are exceedingly neglected, perhaps
more so, than in many other places in which slavery prevails ; and there
appears reason for believing that St. Bartholomew is a refuge for slave-traders
and pirates. The remarks now made comprise the substance of the informa-
tion which I received during my stay in Sweden. I am not without hope
that the small efforts which I have made will be productive of some good
to that deeply interesting cause, for the promotion of which we are met.
It appears to me to be our duty to endeavour to interest every govern-
ment which is connected with slavery, in the abolition of that wicked
system; knowing, as we do, how much the moral influence arising from
emancipation by one country will promote the universal overthrow of
slavery. Allow me to say, before I sit down, that among the remarks which
have been made in the course of this Conference, there have been some
with which I do not entirely agree. I refer to those which have dwelt
on the great difficulties with which the cause of abolition has to contend, and
which suppose it a very possible circumstance, that owing to these difficul-
ties a long period may elapse before the object we seek is extensively effected.
I entertain entirely different sentiments. I believe that the period is very
fast hastening when slavery shall cease to exist throughout the world. The
exertions of abolitionists will be crowned with success, assisted as they are by
the glorious abolition of slavery in the English colonies. At Amsterdam, in
a conversation with a slave-holder, he remarked, that the feeling of Europe
was decidedly against slavery ; that formerly he had been afraid of the blacks,
but that now he was afraid of the whites ; and I believe that he has ground
for the appreheusion which he entertains. Where wc are cugaged in a good

187

a the probability of success by comparing the
extent of the machinery employed, with the greatness of the object we are
seeking to accomplish. With the Divine blessing comparatively insignificant
means are sufficient to accomplish the most important results. Believing as I
do, that this blessing will continue to rest upon our endeavours, I trust that
we shall all labour with the strong conviction that the day is fast approaching,
when the nations of the earth shall universally have abolished slavery, and
that with its downfall an immense increase shall take place in the amount
of human happiness— the tide of civilization shall receive a mighty im-
petus where it now rolls sluggishly, or scarcely moves at all — pure morality,
which most, if not all of us, dearly love, and which I consider to be the
root and foundation of our proceedings, shall receive new brightness, and
shall no longer be tarnished by that inhuman, that cruel, and unrighteous
system of slavery which for centimes has disgraced the nations of the
earth.

JAMES WHITEHOBNE, Esq, (of Bristol).— I should not appear before you
after the clear statement made by Mr. Alexander, were it not for a desire to
refer to one or two circumstances which have apparently escaped his recollec-
tion. In regard to marriage among slaves in the Dutch colony of Surinam, in
the evidence we obtained, it was distinctly stated, that the relation did not
exist among the slaves on the plantations, that in fact it is not recognised by
the laws of the state, and therefore has no legal existence. In regard to in-
struction by the Moravian missionaries : they have been there for a century.
During the first ninety years they had obtained liberty of access to fourteen
estates only, and that at distant intervals, and of a very unsatisfactory cha-
. racter. In the last ten years, by the aid of a Society in Holland, they have
been allowed to visit about forty estates. They were not permitted to teach
the negroes on the estates to read ; so that the slaves could not refer for
themselves to the word of God. Oral instruction alone was given, and many
of the managers were so opposed to that, as often to send the missionaries
away, and frequently to shorten the time during which they were permitted
to speak. "When visiting one estate, they were not permitted to have the
negroes from adjoining plantations. The missionaries could not affirm that
during these hundred years, there had been a single slave on the estates con-
verted to God. The influence that we may exercise in promoting the abolition
of slavery in that colony, may be of a feeble character ; but there is one fact
to which Mr. Alexander has not alluded, which I think is of some im-
portance in this respect. There are between forty aud fifty estates in
Surinam, possessed by British proprietors resident in Great Britain. That
fact is not generally known, nor may its importance be immediately seen. It
shews, however, that we have a body of people upon whom we can act
directly, and it will be for this Convention, or the British and Foreign Anti-
Slavery Society, to adopt measures regarding them. Can they continue to be
slave-holders, where the nation has pronounced its ban against the system of
slavery ? "We have not the same power over the proprietors of Holland, as
over our own fellow-citizens ; but some influence may be exercised. I should
therefore propose that a committee be formed, to suggest the best methods of
acting upon the proprietors both in England and in Holland. It has been
proposed that we should address the French nation on the subject of slavery ;
I think there ought to be a similar address from this Convention in its aggre-
gate capacity, to the people of Holland.

Rev. T. SCALES. — It is importaut that the Convention should know that
the gentleman who has just sat down, was formerly a resident in Jamaica
and a slave-holder. I believe it is a fact, that instead of putting into his own
pocket the compensation money for those who had been in .bondage, he gave
it to those who had been his slaves.

Mr. ALEXANDER. — Allow me to explain a little apparent discrepancy
between my friend's statement and my own. I received information after I
left Holland, which appeared to afford ground for what I stated with regard
to education, and also with respect to the existence of marriages in some
instances.

HENRY HOLLAND, Esq., (delegate from Spilsby).— I beg to ask whether
the slaves in the Dutch colonies can by any means obtain manumission, and
whether there are any free persons of colour in those islands.

Mr. ALEXANDER. — There are free persons of colour undoubtedly.
Whether the slaves can obtain manumission I cannot say.

Captain MOORSOM, R.N., (of Birmingham).— The resolution which has
been put into my hands, grows naturally out of the address which has been
made to the meeting by Mr. Alexander, but it appears to me to connect itself
also with a part of the business of the Convention, as stated in the printed
paper before us. I am not aware whether it has been decided by the meeting,
to take up these things in detail, as the subjects to which they apply occur, or
to take them in the connexion in which they are put down ; but presuming that
the resolution I hold is all right, I have only to move it. I would, however, just
draw your attention to that with which it connects itself in the proposed scheme
of the business of the Convention, namely, the fifth branch of the fourth
series, " International" — " free governments endeavouring to influence others
that tolerate either slavery or the slave-trade." Supposing that that subject
will be before the Convention, aud that an opportunity will be afforded of
connecting the subject of this resolution with it, I shall say nothing more
than simply move —

That a Committee be appointed to prepare a report on the present
state of slavery in the Dutch colonies, together with an address to the
people of Holland, upon the duty and advantages of seeking its
immediate abolition, and that the Rev. John Keep, and G. W.
Alexander, and James "Whitehobne, Esquires, be the said Committee.

SETH SPRAG-UE, Esq, (of the Massachusetts Legislature, U. S.)— It is
with no small diffidence that I attempt to address an assembly like this,
especially after the talented gentlemen whohave spoken from the United
States. I feci a deep interest in every thing' that concerns the abolition of
slavery, as it is entwined around the institutions of the states composing that
country to which I belong, to which I owe allegiance, to which I am
bound, and which I love as my right hand. I cannot feel indifferent to any-
thiug which coucernsher happiness and her welfare. The abolition of slavery
in foreign countries must have a strong bearing upon every part of the United
States. I need not speak of the power and influence of Great Britain in every
part of the world. In the United States we look to all the nations around us
as an example, and whatever they do upou this subject has its effect upon us.
It should, however, be known to the Conveution, that wc arc not situated like

Great Britain or Prance, or even Holland itself. Those countries can buy
their slaves, and set them free, hut we cannot do it. The national govern-
ment has no control hy legislation, in freeing the slaves in the several
states. Hence we are very diiferently situated from you, or any other nation
in the world. How long would it have heen ere you had abolished slavery
in the West Iudia Colonies, had your only resource been the colonial legis-
latures ? How long must you have appealed to them, and what an influence
must you have thrown around them, to have induced them to come forward
and liberate the slaves without compensation or reward ? This is onr situation
in the United States. "We have no power over the states which hold slaves.
Congress can pass- no law for the manumission of slaves, except it be in the
district of Columbia, a place only ten miles square. But slavery is entwining
itself around our institutions and our country, aud I tremble for the con-
sequences either now, or at some future day. The diiEculties that surround
us are so great, that we look to the whole world to throw their iufluence
around us, and to make slavery appear so odious aud hateful to all rational
and sensible men, that the owners of slaves shall be induced to give them up.
You may be assured, that anything which comes from this side of the water
is felt by the southern planters, that it places them in a very peculiar aud
very delicate situation. Hence it is they threaten us, that if we perse-
vere in our measures for the abolition of slavery, they will separate from
the free states. The northern states are extremely sensitive on the subject
of the national union, they fear this threatened separatiou ; and hence the
abolitionists have to encounter opposition with which they would not other-
wise have to conteud. The state legislatures where slavery exists, tell the
free states that they have no right to interfere with them : that it is their
owu busiuess, which by the American compact and constitution, belongs
exclusively to themselves, aud consequently they will not permit us to discuss
the topic within their limits. Great Britain must send out a moral iufluence
abroad amongst us, by its periodicals and its literature. Your agents never
can travel in our country ; they could not use the laugnage there which they
utter here. What would you think of an American coming to England, with
the view of reforming your institutions ? This thought will enable you to
appreciate the prejudices and feelings of American citizeus on the subject. I
merely rose, however, to second the resolution, not being prepared to enter

The resolution was then put, and carried unanimously.

MOHAMMEDAN SLAVERY.

Dr. BOWRING— I have been called upon to address the Convention on a
subject of the greatest iuterest, and the greatest importance. I regret that
it has not been in my power to prepare a formal report, and that all which I
shall be able to do, will be to address to the Convention those desultory and
unarranged observations which immediately occur to me. My first feeling
was a desire to appeal to your candid forbearance, and to entreat that you
would deal indulgently with me, while I led you to lands to which, perhaps,
less than to any other in modern times, has the attention of the friends of
the abolition of slavery been directed. But on second thoughts it occurred
to me, that to those who are acquainted with the pages of their Bible I am to
preseut little that is new, little with which they are not familiar. That
which existed forty centuries ago, exists now. Those beautiful and faithful

190

stories which you will find in Holy Writ, are still palpable to your touch,
and visible to your eyes. If yon will go into Syria, Arabia, and Egypt, in
the desert yon will find to this hour many a patriarch with his camels and his
asses, his man servants aud his maid servants, his bondsmen and his bonds-
women Amono-st those who occupy the highest official stations in the East
there is many a man who has reached it through the door of slavery. Many a
Joseph exists now, the vicissitudes of whose history you may study, and know
how truthful is the Hebrew tale. It is true, that even the ruins of Babylon
have been swept away ; that of Tadmor in the desert, only broken and ruined
pillars remain ; that in Tyre and Sidou, the only activity which exists is
that of the lizard, and the newt, and the scorpions, which are scrambling
over their depopulated walls. But there is Jerusalem, and Damascus, and
Antioch, and Nazareth, and Alexandria, and Smyrna, and Sychar, still
great and still distinguished as in the days of old. The Mohammedan law
has recognised the law of Judaism, and I say, and I am bound to say it in re-
proach of Christian character and Christian conduct, that the Mohammedan
oppression weighs not so heavily upon the slave as that of professing Chris-
tians The law of the Koran has recommended the slave to the humanity o±
the Mussulman, aud I hope that I shall be allowed to refer to the phraseology
of that remarkable man whom they call their prophet, inasmuch as you will
see that all which is kind and generous, and benevolent in it, he has taken from
a higher source. What does he say 1 " Show kindness to parents and rela-
tions, and orphans, to the poor, and your neighbour who is akin to you,
to the stranger, to your familiar companions, to the traveller, and to the cap-
tive whom your right hand shall possess, for Allah loveth not the proud and
the vain glorious." I hope I shall not be misunderstood as attempting to
establish any contrasts between Mohammedanism and Christiauity. It is
because I would elevate Christianity and refer to what its founder intended
that it should be, that I bring forward these quotations from the Koran. In
another passage, he opens the door to the manumission of Mohammedan slaves,
and he says, "Unto such of your slaves as desire a written proof that they
mav redeem themselves, give it— if you have found them faithful ; and give
them of your wealth which God has given you." Again, " Marry those maid
servants whom you possess, who are true believers. Ye are of common
origin." ( That certainly is not a happy translation of the nobler sentiment
of Christianity, ye are the children of a common Father). " Marry them with
the consent of their masters, and give them their dower according to justice,
and if they sin," (there is benevolence and kindness in this, taken out of the
Mosaic law,) "if they siu," (inasmuch as they have not had the advantage of
the instruction which you have possessed), " let them only be punished with
half the punishment inflicted on the free." In this there is a generous huma-
nity, because the slave was not supposed to have had the same means of
information, the same knowledge of the law. What is right and what is
elevated in Mohammedanism, I am the first to confess has been taken from
Judaism and from Christianity ; but I am also compelled to acknowledge,
that the Mohammedans have given more prominency to their sacred writings,
and have been more influenced by their directions, than we whose Bible
is derived from a higher authority, and whose sanctions are of a nobler
character. Allow me to refer to a beautiful tradition among the Moham-
medans, which has a great effect upon their temper and conduct. There
is a verse in the Koran which says, "Paradise is prepared for those

191

who bridle their anger and forgive men : Allah loveth the beneficent."
Now the story which every Mohammedan child has heard from his youth is
this. Hassanben Ali had a slave who threw over him at table, a dish which
was boiling hot. Fearing his master's resentment, he threw himself on his
knees before him, and said, " Paradise is for those who bridle their anger."
His master kindly replied, " I am not angry." The slave added, " And who
forgive." " I forgive thee." "But Allah loveth the beneficent," continued
the slave. " I give you your liberty and 400 pieces of silver." I put it to
you, my Christian friends, whether there is not instruction— touching,
eloquent, even Christian instruction in this Mussulman tradition ? One cir-
cumstance very interesting, and particularly as associated with the state of
things in the East is this — that among them they have no distinction of
colour, no nobility of skiu. White men of the highest ranks marry black
women ; and black men frequently occupy the highest social and official
stations. At this moment the Scherif of Mecca — the holy city — a man of
the highest authority in the East, is as black as a raven. I have over and
over again, on the Nile, seen the Nubian commanding the white men of
northern Egypt ; and I have again and again in the East seen black men
domineering it — I hope the expression will be pardoned— over their white
dependents. I recollect, on one occasion, a black man in an Egyptian regi-
ment had his leg amputated by a distinguished friend of mine in the East,
Clot Bey, and when the Bey expressed his surprise that his patient uttered
no exclamation of distress, that he cried not for mercy or for pity, and said
to him, "Why, you are indeed a brave man, I had no idea that so much pain
could have been borne with so much patience." His reply was, " Do you
think that a Nubian (a black man) is no better than a Fellah (a white one)."
The slavery of the East is not the slavery of the field, but of the household.
In the dispensations of Providence, in those countries in which slavery forms
a part and portion of the social organization, the Divine Being has tempered
the wind to the shorn lamb. The slaves are regarded with a certain tender-
ness and affection in those countries where mortality frequently sweeps the
people away by devastations of the most cruel character. The plague often
removes men in multitudes. I knew a case myself, of a Mohammedan
governor, who of 70 children had lost 69 ; and the consequence is, that the
affections of the Mohammedans frequently associate themselves with the
children whom they have bought, and who become a part of their family.
Throughout the East the slave is not regarded as degraded, inasmuch as
slavery is no impediment to his reaching the highest social elevation. I
believe that at this moment three-fourths of the Divan of Constantinople are
composed of men stolen in their youth, who are wholly unacquainted with
their early history, and from whom you can learn nothing of the names of
their forefathers ; of the scenes of their childhood, or even of the place of
their birth. Such is the state of the slaves in the East ; but while I am con-
trasting their situation with that of those who are dependent on Christian
masters, do not suppose for a moment, that even there, the influences of slavery
are not most deplorable. Even there, slavery is the great impediment to
civilization, to the march of instruction, to the introduction and the progress
of civil liberty. It may he shewn without difficulty that the present
condition of the Caliphate, whose race I believe to be nearly run, and whose
downward destinies are about to be accomplished, is to be traced to that
pollution, that degradation, that misery, that ruin which the principle aud

192

practice of slavery have everywhere introduced. I have spoken of the weak-
ness of the Caliphate, because out of that weakness I think an opportunity is
afforded to you of doing great good in the Levant. The Mohammedan
influence represented by the sword and the book — the only two influences
which they recognise — is passing away. The Christian powers are sovereigns
at Constantinople and in the Ottoman empire, and not the Sultan. I trust
that some appeal will be made by you to them, in order to show that their
influence ought to be exercised for noble, and patriotic, and Christian
purposes; and, I believe, that such influence at this moment would not be
exercised in vain. When my friend, Mr. Bcxton, visited Borne the other
day, and endeavoured to obtain from his Holiness the Pope such influence
for the abolition of slavery, as he still exercises in the Christian world,
he was engaged in a holy and a useful work. That which is true in
the "West as it respects the Pope, is true in the East as respects the Sultan,
and the power of the Caliphate. Their political power has as much passed
away, as the alchemy of Paracelsus, or the astronomy of Ptolemy. But I am
persuaded that if the influence of the Christian powers be immediately and
properly used at Constantinople, something may be obtained from that
tottering government, which will be eminently conducive to the abolition of
slavery. You were all interested by the appeal which was made to-day by
M. Cremieux, and by that touching appeal in which he associated the cause
of his brethren, with the cause which has brought us together. The bond of
affinity is far greater than even he represented it. The persecution of the
Jews at Damascus is a part and portion of the question of slavery, and I shall
bring it home to your minds by reciting a fact, of which I was an eye witness
in the Holy Land. I was a visitor to the governor of Nablous, the capital of
Samaria, the Shechem of the Old Testament, and the Sychar of the New ;
that spot in which the Samaritans to this hour, for there is still a fragment of
the Samaritans left, worship the God of their fathers on Mount Gherizim —
that spot interesting and hallowed, let me say, beyond most other spots in
that most interesting and hallowed land, in which our Saviour uttered the
words, " God is a Spirit, and they who worship Him must worship Him in
spirit and in truth." In the house of the Governor of that city I was living,
when I saw a handsome youth brought in, aged perhaps seven, eight, or nine
years. He was purchased by the Governor for the sum of 7,000 piastres, or
about £10. sterling. The boy knew nothing of his early history ; he had been
stolen probably by the Turkish officer who was then selling him. His own
condition had nothing in it that was distressing ; for the recollection of his
friends and his family had passed away, and received as he was into the
bosom of a distinguished and opulent house, he had nothing of which to com-
plain. But you will ask what reference has this to the proceedings at
Damascus ? Why this — that this demand for slaves perpetually leads to the
loss of children, to the robbing of families, to the miseries which you can
better estimate than I can give expression to. Throughout the whole of
Syria children are constantly lost, their parents are deprived of them by one
perfidious pirate or another, and they are sold into slavery, and of this crime
the Jews arc the commonly accused parties. The Jews, as in the dark ages,
are the victims of every species of calumny. When a child is lost in the East,
some unhappy Jew is accused of the robbery. Christians and Mussulmaus
have agreed to represent the Jews as the traders in children, as the stealers of
their offspring, and as stealing them for the purpose of sacrifice, and it is out

193

of this extraordinary impression, this very persecution at Damascus may have
had its origin — a persecution originating in blood and infatuated superstition.
But in that state of society in which there are' so many mothers, who have
had to deplore the loss of their children, in ■which, as you are aware, there are
so few means of communication, so little civilization, so much ignorance, so
little kuowledge, so much of prejudice, so little publicity, these unfortunate
Jews have been fixed upon as the victims of the abominable persecutions
which have occurred at Damascus, and which only represent, I am sorry to
say, the state of the public mind in the Holy Land. But then what is to be
done ? Is this state of things to continue ! Is slavery to be ever tolerated ?
Are those usages among Mohamiuedan nations, which have come down from
the remotest time, which probably existed before the days of Abraham— for
Abraham, and Abraham's ancestors dwelt at Damascus— are they never to be
removed ? I ask whether by the intervention of Christians at the present
moment, we might not do something to put an end to these abominations ;
something to elevate the general tone and character of the Mohammedan
mind ; something to shew that in the abolition of slavery, all nations, all
religions have a common interest, and that for its overthrow they are bound
to unite in a common co-operation ? It appears to me that much may be done
if recourse be had to proper means. I had occasion, when, hououred by a mis-
sion from Her Majesty's Government to the East, to bring the whole question of
slavery to the notice of the present rulers of the country. I need not describe
to you the horrors which accompany the capture of the slave. I need not tell
yon, for it would harrow up your souls, how much of misery, how much of
blood is scattered over every track upon which the slave passes on his way to
his final purchaser. I have seen slavery at its birth-place, and I believe that
it may be checked there ; that if you direct your energies aright, you may
attack it in its cradle, and that your Hercules is strong enough to strangle
the serpent of slavery. I look upon eastern Africa with peculiar interest,
because the means of action there, are far greater than on the western coast;
and while I earnestly desire that every effort should be made on the Gambia,
and in the West, I cannot but think that the East presents greater facilities,
and greater promise of important results. One portion of eastern Africa, as
you are aware, is Christian, and a large portion of it is Mohammedan ;
Christian and Mohammedan, such as they are, polluted as they are, (for I am
bound to say that the Christianity of barbarous nations partakes of their
barbarism, and that if you would see it in its purity, in its beauty, in its
higher excellency, you must associate it with all the developments of mind,
and of intellect,) there are some elements to work upon. I had occasion to
represent to the Viceroy of Egypt, accompanied by the Consul-general of
that country, Colonel Campbell, to whose emcieut services I am bound to
pay my grateful tribute, that it would do his Highness much honour, that it
would elevate his name among European nations, if he would endeavour to
check the slave-hunts, and the atrocities committed by the troops which own
him as their sovereign. I hold in my hand a report which Lord Palmeeston
has kindly allowed to be communicated to Mr. Buxton, with reference to his
own most meritorious exertions, and which therefore I may be permitted to
read here. I will take the liberty of calling your attention to a fragment of
the Report, which in a few days will be laid before Parliament, and which
represents what took place at the interview between Mohammed Ali, Colonel
Campbell and myself, on the 16th January, 1838. It is as follows —

194
When we had obtained sufficient evidence to authorise an inter-
ference with the Pacha, on the subject of the slave-hunts carried on by
his Highness' troops in Sennaar, and other frontiers of his dominions, the
Consul-General and myself, determined to make a strong representa-
tion to him on the subject. And here I have the greatest satisfaction
in reporting, that on this, as on every other occasion, I found from
Colonel Campbell the most eager and energetic co-operation, the
utmost willingness, and most earnest desire to use all his influence for
any object of liumaue and generous policy. It was certainly a task of
some difficulty to address a Mohammedan Pacha, on a subject where
everything we had to say would be new and unexpected ; and where,
in whatever terms our remonstrances might be couched, they would
necessarily imply censure, and might provoke resistance. We could not,
however, seek or obtain a remedy, unless we laid open the abuse. We
had, indeed, the satisfaction of knowing, that in the discharge of a
heavy and responsible duty, we had no motives but those of humanity ;
and we hoped, should the Pacha uot be disposed to adopt our sugges-
tions, that we might at least convince him, our interference had in it
nothing of an unfriendly character. Indeed, the Consul-General and
myself thought, that if the represeutations took the shape rather of
amicable counsel, than of formal diplomatic intervention, we were more
likely to succeed; inasmuch as a Mohammedan Governor, who finds
slavery interwoven with every part of the social organization around
him, would undoubtedly resist, and be encouraged by every prejudice
and passion of his subjects, to resist a formal interference with usages
of immemorial date, and sanetioned by the special authority of his
prophet.

It was during the Ramadan festival that we made our way to the
palace of the Pacha at Shoubra. This was our second attempt to see
him on the subject, for we had gone the previous day to the palace of
his daughter, the widow of the Defterdar Bey, on the other side of
Cairo, and had learned that the Pacha had departed. We found his
Highness smoking one of the splendidly decorated pipes, dazzling with
multitudinous diamonds, which are used on great festivities ; and the
snuff-box lustrous with brilliants, lay by his side on the Divan.

lie is most keen in perceiving whether the communications about
to be made, are of a pleasing or disagreeable character ; and he soon
gave us reason to suppose, he knew that wc were about to address hiin

195

on some not attraetive subject. Of this he had no doubt been in-
formed by his intelligent Ameriean interpreter, Abtin Bey, to whom
we had indeed stated our intention of bringing the slavery question to
the notice of his master. Colonel Campbell began by saying, that
he felt pain in being compelled to speak to his Highness, on a matter
where his own officers and troops were so deeply coneerned ; but that if
he knew how seriously his own reputation was involved, how deeply
the universal mind of England was moved on the question of Negro
Slavery, he would exeuse and approve of the step we were now taking,
and eonsider that, we were rendering him a great serviee, by suggesting
that before any official representations were made, he should take
the initiative, by immediately putting a stop to the slave -hunts in the
south.

Fire flashed from the old man s eyes as we spoke ; he grasped the sword,
as he frequently does when excited, which lay upon his knees, and all
his gestures showed a strong excitement, but his features gradually
relapsed into a more eomplaeent expression, and he said, he doubted
much, whether his troops had ever been paid in slaves ; that he had never
heard the fact mentioned; that he knew, indeed, his officers traded in
slaves, of whieh he much disapproved; that he disliked the slave-trade
himself, and should be very happy to abolish it altogether, by slow
degrees, whieh was the only way it eould be accomplished. We told
him that we would not have presumed to bring the matter before him,
had we not evidenee the most irresistible, showing that the slave-hunts
were carried on by his troops ; that wages were paid in slaves, and that
horrible sufferings and frightful waste of life were the consequenees of
the system. He asked how eau my soldiers' wages be paid in slaves,
when there is not a soldier to whom a sum exeeeding seventy-five
piastres, fifteen shillings, was due; and the very lowest price of a
slave was 1 50 piastres.

We told him that the slaves were distributed in pareels aceording
to the amounts due to the troops ; that in this way fifty slaves of the
value of 150 piastres would be given to pay the arrears of 75 piastres
due to 100 soldiers. He still doubted our statements, and offered to
send an offieer to accompany any person we would nominate, into the
distriets in order to report ; and if matters were found as we stated, he
would give orders to put an end to the abuse. We replied that we
had the faets not only from foreigners, but from English travellers of

undoubted veraeity, and that he might be assured we were not mis-
leading him by any false representation or heightened colouring; that
the language he had used with respect to slavery did him the highest
honour ; and that his carrying out a purpose so humane and noble,
would throw the greatest lustre on his administration and reputation.
He said he would forward a despateh that very evening to the Com-
mandant of the distriet, peremptorily forbidding the employment of
his troops in the capture of negroes, and the payment of their wages
in slaves ; and that a eopy of his order should be sent to the Consulate.
I ventured to tell him that I had no doubt publicity would be given to
his humane intentions in England— and I rejoice here to fulfil the
pledge I gave him— and that however great the difficulties might
seem in the way of abolishing the slave-trade, they would be over-
come by a determined perseveranee, and that the glory of success
would be heightened by the impediments surmounted. I added, that
his neighbour, the Imatjm of Muscat, also a Mohammedan Prince,
had given already a noble example, by abolishing the export slave-
trade at the sacrifiee of a large annual revenue ; to which his High-
ness answered, he had the highest opinion of the charaeter of the
Imaum, and was on terms of intimate alliance with him. "We men-
tioned to the Pacha that several Frenchmen were also engaged in the
slave-trade. The Pacha answered that he had never authorised the
earrying on the slave-trade by foreigners."

It is a deplorable fact to which I call the attention of my friend M.
Isambert, that the tri-coloured flag is used at the Nile for the purpose
of conducting Nubians to slavery. That flag which I would always treat
with respect, because I love and honour the nation which it represents.
But it is undoubtedly a fact, of which I have had individual and per-
sonal experience, that that flag is degraded, and that nation is dishonoured
by being made the means of bringing Nubians to the slave-markets of Tyre
and Alexandria. "We mentioned these facts to the Pacha, and reported
the names of those whom the Consul-General thought it necessary to
denounce to the French Consul, in order to obtain the interference of the
French government to put a stop to their iniquitous proceedings. I have
stated in another part of this Report, that I am confident it will be possible
by direct negociation to obtain the concurrence of the Pacha of Egypt,
the most influential of Mohammedan Sovereigns, the only Sovereign who
is rising in influence while every other is falling. I have no doubt whatever
that it will be possible to obtain his aid, his co-operation in the abolition of
slavery in the Levant. The sufferings of the blacksin Eastern Africa are beyond
all description. I have seen the caravans coming over the desert, the slaves
naked, exhausted, and emaciated, telling the story of the multitudes who had
" "n the way, and the sufferings of those who had b

197

have heard from" their own lips what has happened when these gazzuas or
slave-hunts have desolated districts capable of bountiful and boundless pro-
duction—districts which have been delivered over to destruction by this
omnipotent and barbarizing scourge. I need not speak to you of the aptitudes
of Eastern Africa. I will mention one fact with reference to a small part of
that portion of the globe. At the confluence of the White and Blue Nile, there
is a town called Kartonm, which you will scarcely find noticed upou maps.
A few years ago there was hardly an inhabitant to occupy the few negro
huts erected there. The whole of the neighbouring country was desolated
and depopulated by the slave-hunts, yet the situation is one of the most attrac-
tive which exists ; and a town has lately, by the gradual progress of civi-
lization, been erected. According to the last accounts, there were not less
than 20,000 inhabitants, in a spot, whose name, as I said before, was almost
unknown to geographers. The neighbouring territory has been called into
fertility, and many Europeans have already made their fortunes there. To
what is this to be attributed ? To the influence of peace, to the security
obtained for person and property. I know no reason why this influence
should ndt extend. I believe it would be possible to prove to every
Sovereign in Eastern Africa, that, to say nothing of his duty, it is his
interest to employ the labour of his subjects in the cultivation of the fields
on the spot on which they are born. I would put it on the selfish ground of
his own interests, and shew him that far more is to be obtained from the
African labourer, if left to cultivate the soil, than by selling him away from
his native land. I have no doubt that if this consideration be strongly put
forward, the fouudation will be laid for great and important changes. Do
not believe that even the Christian people of Africa are not deeply involved
in slavery. Do not believe that the stigma attaches only to Mohamme-
danism and Paganism. Not long ago two priests from the capital of Abys-
sinia, had charge of some Christian youths whom they were to take to
Jerusalem. Among all Oriental nations pilgrimage is a paramount duty, a
great enjoyment ; it brings with it reputation for sanctity. On this occasion,
these nominally Christian teachers, when they reached Massouwa, the port of
Abyssinia, sold these children as slaves to Mussulman masters. I mention
this, lest you should suppose that a mere profession of Christianity gives you
any guarantee for the overthrow of slavery. Christianity must come with its
high and its ennobling principles, with its virtues as well as with its creeds ;
aud sure I am, that when it comes represented by its benevolence and by its'
charity, it will produce important changes, not only among Mohammedan
natious, but throughout the world.

Mr. SAMS— Having, some time ago, visited the whole of the interesting coun-
tries to which our worthy friend has alluded, and feeling with him a peculiar
interest in those countries, I am disposed, with the permission of the Chai rman,
to add a few words to what he has stated. I agree in opinion with Dr. Bq wring
that the state of slavery in Eastern Africa is iudeed not so wretched, and that
the slaves do not experience that cruel treatment which obtains (with sorrow
be it said) under Christian domination. Nevertheless, I was much pleased
with one observation of the worthy Doctok, that he wished some memorial
might go from this Convention to the Governors of the East, say to the
Sultan and to Mohammed An,to the latter of whom I had also the pleasure
of being introduced. I am persuaded, from the kind feeling of the Governors
of these parts, that a memorial from this assembly, recommending the aboli-

tion of slavery, would receive very great attention. Although the slaves do
not suffer in Eastern Africa, as our slaves did in the "West Indies, still slavery
is an extreme evil, even there. I have seen many distresses, and sorrowful
circumstances arise from it. "We are aware that Egypt horders on Nubia, the
Ethiopia of the sacred volume, a land which is peopled by blacks. A large
number of these are introduced annually into Egypt, not merely for the
supply of that country, but for the use of nearly all the Mohammedan
states. "When on the borders of Ethiopia, I happened to fall in with what,
has been very rightly designated, " a slave-hunting gang." They had just
crossed the great cataracts of the Nile, and had arrived in Egypt, with
a cargo of black female slaves. The very visages of the gang were to me
most disgusting. Of all the human beings whom I ever saw, I think I never
witnessed such countenances ; they seemed truly to deserve the epithet of
fiend-like. Many of the slaves were children, from perhaps eight to thirteen
years old. Some of them had endeavoured to run away, and the most cruel
means had been adopted as well to prevent this, as to re-take them. ^ Lances
had been thrown at them, and some of them had severe gashes, which from
the heat of the country were festered, and rendered the suffering great.
There is also a circumstance to which our friend has not alluded, probably by
accident, but it is of a shocking description. A large number of negro boys
are introduced into this country for a horrible purpose, and many of them
die under the cruelties to which they are thus subjected. A place about the
centre of Egypt is set apart for the purpose* Having passed through Egypt,
Palestine, or the Holy Land, Syria, and the Wilderness, even to Mount Sinai,
I have seen a good deal of the state of slavery which exists in those parts ; and
have necessarily seen also much of the native disposition and real character of
the blacks. One or two circumstances which occurred while travelling through
those countries, and which I shall not soon forget, may interest the Conven-
tion. In consequence of the excessive heat, and the privations I had occa-
sionally to endure, I became exceedingly indisposed, and was detained in
Egypt much longer than I intended. On my return from the Upper country
and the hilliest part of Nubia, I stopped at Boulac, a considerable town and
the port of Grand Cairo, where I could get the benefit of the air of the Nile.
I mention the anecdote to show the natural feelings of that cruelly persecuted
class, the blacks of Africa. I had a black and an Arab, servants, who with
myself, constituted my little household. Being extremely ill, I once sent the
Arab to purchase some fresh meat for broth, thinking I could perhaps take a
little. He stayed out about three hours, and when he returned pretended
that he could not procure any. I was well persuaded that this was design ;
that he thought I should sink under this illness, and that he should come in
for a portion of the substance I had about me. Extremely different, however,
was the couduct of the poor black, who endeavoured on this occasion, as on
others, to do everything to cheer, to comfort, and to assist. At one period, I
remember, weighed down with illness, and meditating on the distance I
was from my native land and from those dear to me, tears almost involun-
tarily flowed ; the black, who observed this, came up with much kindness,
and took a handkerchief to wipe them as they fell, continuing to evince the

* This species of shameful cruelty, arising out of the human traffic i:
slaves, is probably unknown iu any other portion of the globe.

greatest solicitude to contribute to my comfort, to sooth, and to help. If I
shall not be detaining the Convention too long, I will give another anecdote.-
It is further descriptive of the character of the unfeeling negro race. Near to
the great cataracts of the Nile there is a considerable island of great beauty,
which I have no doubt, our worthy friend, Dr. Bowring, has seen, the island
of Elephantina. In those countries there are not only no coaches but there
are no suitable roads, simply a small, difficult, or dangerous track for a mule,
or a camel. But, as we are aware, Egypt is a valley, the longest, as I believe,
aud the most fertile in the world ; and every great city in that interesting
country, (the country, I may say, of Abraham, as well as of Jacob, of Joseph,
of Moses, and of the Israelites) is situate on one side or the other of the Nile.
So that, in order to travel agreeably there, we hire an Egyptian vessel and
navigate this noble river. I was travelling up the country in one of these
vessels, at one end of which are two small rooms where we eat, drink, aud
sleep. We drew up nearly at this islaud of Elephantina. A Mameluke,
whom I had with me, and myself went on shore. This is an island highly
interesting as well as beautiful j there is a very remarkable antient building
there, the remains of a temple, and many other objects important to the
traveller. We were much charmed with the beauties and interest of the
scene, and prolonged our stay till the shades of evening began to gather
around us. The Mameluke and myself being thus alone on the island, we
observed a company of black women at a distance, who noticed us a good
deal— we were not at all aware for what reason— but, after observing us
for some time, and, as we thought, speaking about us, one of them came
forward from the rest, laid something on the ground,* and beckoned to us
kindly to come forward. We imagined they might have something to sell,
for the island abounds with interesting antiquities of many kinds. However,
we went towards them, and when we got to the place what think you it was J
A very nice supper prepared for us, it might seem, in their best manner. These
poor women, these cruelly aspersed blacks, who are said to be capable of no
kind feeling, saw two strangers on their island, they saw the shades of even-
ing overtake them, they themselves had probably lately eaten, and thinking
that these strangers whom they had never knoim, whom they had never before seen,
would also want refreshment, had prepared amongst them unasked for and
unsought an excellent supper, and begged them in a delicate and kind manner
to partake of it. I mention this instance to show that the dispositions of
these people for kind-heartedness, tenderness, and sympathy, are, through tho
Divine goodness, though I would not say superior, certainly, by no means
inferior, to those of the boasted whites. For my own part, I must say I never
met with greater kindness and sympathy, and fellow-feeling than I have done
from the blacks ; and I have been many long journeys with some of these
people, who were either my servants, or were connected with the Arabs of
whom I had hired camels. One I had the pleasure of manumitting and
setting free ; eveu that one to whom I have alluded, that attended me with
so much feeling, and so faithfully in my sickness. I heartily unite in the
observation of Dr. Bowking, that some strong recommendation should go
rortn trom this interesting assembly, to the potentates of the East, that they
should at the earliest possible opportunity cmse slavery to cease in their dominions.

■>e tables in these

but the ground, or floor, is their

The following resolution has, since I have been speaking, been put into my
hands, and which I with pleasure move —

That a committee be appointed, to take into consideration the best
way of assisting to effect the suppression of slavery in Mohammedan
countries ; and that Dr. Bowring, W. Forster, J. Ac-worth, and
J. Carlile, be such committee.

Rev. J. BURNET.— I entirely concur in the views which have been taken
of the vast importance of sending to the Mohammedan countriesj for
the purpose of endeavouring to remove the cruelties and the disgrace of
slavery from those lands. Some difficulty has been expressed as to whether
this Convention can address the government of a nation. Now, I do not
know that there is any rule by which we can he guided in this course, inas-
much as no nation has laid down any plau by which it is to be addressed
by voluntary societies. It does not follow, however, from this circumstance,
that we may not address the governments of the earth ; and if they find that
people of all lands have come together on a great question, that philanthropists
of every creed and clime have concurred in that question, that the voice
of civilized Europe goes along with those philanthropists in that question ;
if they find that day after day no divisions have taken place in that assembly
of philanthropists upon that question, but merely such divisions as arise out
of different opinions with regard to the mode of carrying it out ; if they find
that this has been the result of a general demand, previously made for the
enfranchisement of the slaves of a whole empire, and that that demand has
been practically and actually met ; if they find that one empire having washed
its hands of this foul traffic to such an extent, invites others, and that those
others receive that invitation kindly ; and generously, and emphatically, and
cordially, respond to it ; and if they thus find that there is really a moral
war declared against all the slave nations of the earth by all that have con-
sidered this great and important subject, I would say that any government
would feel as much difficulty in refusing on the ground of etiquette, to
receive an address from such an assembly, as it would feel in actually
rejecting it. The disgrace of the rejection would be as great a difficulty as
the breach of national etiquette in the acceptance of such an address.
Perplex and confound them with moral and religious boldness, and if
you cannot induce them to sweep away every vestige of national and
political etiquette, you will at least call up the blush into their coun-
tenance, when they reflect that there is a necessity to thiuk at all on
such a mean and degrading fact as that they are the governors of slaves.
But I am not disposed to say, that the only course we have to take is, that of
an address to such governments. "We must defer very much to the opiuion
of such gentlemen as have now addressed us, and who have visited these
countries ; and in deferring to their opinions, practically formed as they are,
on the circumstances in which slavery exists in those countries, I am sure
we shall find that we are deferring to an opinion which cannot materially mis-
lead us. It may be necessary that deputations should be sent to those coun-
tries, and it may be necessary that remonstrances should be made by those
deputations. The day lias gone by when difficulties would staud in the way
of pursuing such a course. We think it nothing now, in these days of st
and railroads, to take advantage of the progress in 1

arts of transportation.

201

and to send a philanthropist to Cairo, to Alexandria, to Naplous, to Mount
Sinai itself, or any part of the habitable globe. Philanthropy has wings and
it has learnt to spread them — they are wings that "never tire ; and when once
they are spread, the rising sun indicates the point whence they start, and
when the sun goes down they ply their way by moonlight, and in the night
pursue their glorious course. As philanthropy enlarges, the world contracts ;
and as the human mind takes a larger, a nobler, and a more elevated view of
its moral and religious obligations, the size of our globe is felt to diminish,
and we can now observe what before we could only read of at a distance ; we
can now take our course through these nations, observe their character and
study their amelioration, and if governments at home, or governments abroad
are indisposed to listen, we may swell the clamour of the people's thunder :
let it be legitimate, moral, religious, but let it rise in emphasis so sublime,
yet so astounding, that no government cau lend a deaf ear to its call. I am glad
there is a committee to be appointed to undertake this work. This Convention,
let it be remembered, has no power but moral power ; and moral power
knows no etiquette, no barriers arising from national objections ou the part
of governments to listen to any petition, but the petitions of their own sub-
jects ; and therefore as our power is moral, let us, knowing as we do the value
of that description of power, wield it manfully ; and if the governments of the
earth require to be redeemed from the slavery of ancient opinions, and some
of them to those opinions are themselves slaves, let us then endeavour to
relieve the slaves that rule as well as the slaves that are ruled. I beg to
second the resolution.

Mr. J. FORSTER.— I wish to make an inquiry for the purpose of infor-
mation. About fifteen months ago, I received the impression in Paris, that
the Pacha of Egypt had liberated a large number of slaves. I would ask
Dr. Bo wring, whether he is able to give this assembly any more recent
information as to that account, if it is fully confirmed ; and if he is in
possessiou of any information of a very late date as to the real state of the
slavery of this class of the population of Egypt.

Dr. BOWRINGv— I was not aware of the fact to which our friend has re-
ferred ; but since I left Egypt, the Pacha has himself undertaken a j ourney into
Nigritia, a part of ancient Ethiopia. I have received communications from
him as to his proceedings in those countries ; they were certainly full of the
kindest intentions towards the slaves. The facts that developed themselves
during that extraordinary journey, (a very extraordinary one for a despotic
Sovereign of seventy-two years of age to undertake, in which he frequently
travelled for sixteen hours a day, on the back of a camel or dromedary, and in
which he certainly addressed most excellent counsels to the barbarous princes
of the territories through which he passed), these facts impressed his mind with
a very strong conviction that slavery had been most eminently pernicious to
those countries. Some very interesting commercial, and agricultural facts
were exhibited in the progress of that journey. They found, for example,
that much of the country was covered with indigenous cotton ; that there
were means of producing gum and various other articles of commerce to an
almost boundless extent. In the last letters that I have received from Egypt,
I have an account that the Pacha had directed investigation to be pursued on
the White Nile ; and that he had directed a very considerable establishment,
headed by Europeans, to fix itself at Kartoum, which is the town I have

mentioned, at the confluence of the Blue and the White Nile. I trust that
the attention of this government will be called to the importance of having
some representative there. I believe if ■ British auspices, or European
auspices, or still better, Christian auspices were brought to watch over the
work of civilization which is going on there, that most important social and
commercial results would be the consequence. I will mention a fact which I
forgot to state in my former address. I made it my business to hold inter-
course with every caravan, and every group of slaves which I met in my pro-
gress to Nubia. On every occasion, I asked the Jellabs, or the dealers in
slaves, whether it would not be for their individual interest to import some
other article than slaves, for the payment of those European commodities
which they were taking into the interior of Africa ; and from the whole of
them I gathered facts which left on my mind this impression, that if the
Africans could pursue the labour of agriculture, in peace and tranquillity, if
those valuable and productive lands could be turned to account by agricultural
knowledge, and by the application of capital, that there would be no indis-
position, on the part of the slave-dealers themselves, to take to a new profession,
in which they would soon discover it was for their interest to bring the pro-
duce of the soil to market, instead of those wbom nature, and the God
of nature intended to be the cultivators of the soil. I will also add, that
when I was in Egypt, a notion was spread among the Jellabs, that I had
obtained from the Pacha a promise that he would abolish slavery by force. I
obtained no such promise. The Pacha never concealed from me, and I could
not conceal from myself, the immense difficulty of his position. He said again
aud again that he disapproved of slavery, that he knew that slavery brought
with it great suffering and great degradatiou, that he believed the import of
slaves was not beneficial to his own lauds, while it was extremely detrimental
to the land from which tbe slaves were torn away ; but he said " You must not
forget the prejudices that surround me ; you must not forget the character of
Mussulman society ; you must not forget that we have no family which has
not in it mauy a slave ; you must not forget our harems which are in the
hands of our slaves ; but I am willing for my part to direct that my soldiers shall
not be hunters or captors of slaves ; and I am willing, as you tell me that my
governors have captured slaves for the payment of the wages of my troops, I
am willing to issue an order, and if you like, any man nominated by you shall
be the bearer of that order, to the governors of Nigritia, declaring that I
have seen their proceedings with disapprobation, and directing that for the
future all such proceedings shall cease." I certainly wish that the Pacha of
Egypt should be called on to bear this subject in mind. I am earnestly
desirous that the British government, in a spirit of kindly feeling, and in the
lauguage of kindness and urbanity, should do him justice for what he has
almidy done, and encourage him to do more. lam desirous that a man so
distinguished as he is, a man of so great an intellect and capacity, and of so
boundless an influence in the Mohammedan world, that he should not pass
iuto his grave without having his great means turned to some account ; to
the account of humanity, civilization, and the final overthrow of slavery.

The resolution was then put and carried unanimously.

B,ev. J. BENNETT, (of Northampton) moved, that the very grateful
thanks of this Convention be presented to John Bowring, Esq., LL.D.,

for the valuable service he has rendered this day, in his faithful trans-
lation of the addresses of the French gentlemen.

Mr. SAMS seconded the resolution, which was put and carried by-
acclamation.

Mr. JOSEPH STURGE.— Perhaps I maybe allowed to refer to the subject
which our friend Buk.net introduced, which we had better decide without
discussing further ; and that is the question, as to the right, or rather the pro-
priety of this Convention addressing foreign governments. I hope the opinion
that he has expressed will be taken as the unanimous opinion of this meeting,
if so, we had better draw up a resolution at once to that effect.

Dr. BOWRING.— I believe it is quite understood that the only means
of one government communicating with another is through the diplomatic
agent at the court of that government, and that diplomatic agent com-
municates nothing but what he receives from the foreign minister of
the country which he represents. Now, although I think it is extremely
desirable that you should engage the foreign minister of this country to
interest himself in this question ; yet when you resolve that you will commu-
uicate with a foreign goverumeut you resolve that to which yon cannot give
effect. I would, therefore, suggest that you resolve to memoralize Lord
Palmerston, and request that he will communicate with the foreign govern-
ments ; but I know of no means by which you yourselves can regularly enter
into communication with governments of a foreign state. I feel this difficulty,
not that I object that you should seek the means of communicating with
foreign governments, but merely to represent to you that there is this ori-
ginal difficulty in such a communication.

Mr. SAMS.— Allow me to make a single remark. Although technically
and formally I am well aware that what Dr. Bowring has advanced is cor-
rect j yet lam also of opinion that the Pacha of Egypt would receive a commu-
nication from such a body as this, and I feel confident that he would give it
his serious attentiou and consideration. I desire to throw this out, for I
cannot help wishing that this Convention should address these Eastern Poten-
tates ; and I certainly do think that communications issuing from this impor-
tant assembly would assuredly be received by them, aud that they would meet
with every attention.

Rev. T. SCALES.— With reference to the question thus brought before
us, I would intimate, that I believe Captain Moorsom has prepared a paper
on the very subject of international intercourse, so that in all probability
the question will be opened anew, and will come up in such a way as to obtain
more full and serious discussion ; and then, probably, should the Conveution
come to the determination that they have the power, aud consider it their
right to exercise it, it will be carried back over the different resolutions
we have come to already, in reference to making our appeal to nations, aud
also authorise the committees to make their appeals to the heads of govern-
ments as well as to the nations themselves.

RICHARD ALLEN,Esq., (of Dublin).— May I take the liberty of asking two
or three questions, not so much with a view of haviug them answered now
as to draw the attentiou of this assembly to these points. First, Is it a fact
that there are in Birmingham large quantities of fire-arms manufactured for
the purpose of being sold for war amoug the Africans ? Secondly, Is it the

;o dictate

204

case that fetters for slaves are manufactured in Birmingham % And, thirdly,
Is it not the case that there are immense quantities of cotton goods manu-
factured to he taken into the African slave-market and exchanged for slaves ?
I ask these questions, because I think if this is so, it does in some degree need
some attention from this Convention.

Rev. W. BEVAN.— I apprehend that these inquiries may, with great pro-
priety, he made -when the subject of the slave-trade comes on to-morrow.

Mr. STACEY — I hope that this Convention will not feel itself prevented
by the hints of Dr. Bowring from addressing the heads of foreign govern-
ments. I would not have it turned away from this point.

Rev. T. SCALES.— There is one consideration I would venture to suggest.
It is not upon any commercial or political, but simply upon moral grounds
that we take our stand. We are not merely of this or that nation, but a
Convention of all nations, and surely such a Convention might be allowed
to break through the trammels of mere etiquette. It occupies ground much
higher than that of the mere potentates of this world, and therefore is not to-
be fettered or bouud by such tics.

Rev. E. GALUSHA.— One word on this subject. It is desirable that we
should have a precedent for our proceedings. I consider that this Convention
occupies a moral elevation from which it may look down on any throne or il "
face of the earth. I speak of its moral elevation, for we do not
to Sovereigns what they shall do as Sovereigns ; we only c<
the voice of eternal truth, which descends on the thrones of the Kings of the
earth, and that truth is the voice of God, let who will utter it, in sincerity and
simplicity. The precedent to which I allude, is, that of a servant of God,
who thus addressed one of the Soveueigns of this realm, who spoke out while
he was preaching the gospel in his presence, " when the lion roars, the beasts
of the forest tremble, and when the Lord speaks, let Kings keep silence."
This was the voice of God's servant addressed to the Sovereign, because he
considered his elevation in a moral point of view, above that of Kings. So
let this Convention proceed and carry out this principle, by addressing the
dignitaries of the earth in-the name of God and humanity.

JOSEPH T. PRICE, Esq., (Delegate from Swansea).— I was, I confess,
disposed to entertain some doubts on the question now before the meeting,
because I am not aware, that we could produce a precedent and show that our
own British Parliament would be receivers of petitions from foreigners thus
associated. At the same time, I confess, it does appear to me that this is a
new description of meeting, such as has not taken place before J and there-
fore, I thiuk it does merit very grave consideration before we relinquish our
privileges as British subjects, associated here, of being able to present a peti-
tion to our own Parliament and the Queen, even though there are foreigners
associated with us ; and therefore before the object be wholly relinquished,
either with regard to our own or other nations, I hope it will receive mature
deliberation. I do not think it would be wise for us to come to a conclusion
precipitately on the subject. For one, I would, I confess rather run the risk
even of a rejection, than not aim at the accomplishment of so high an object,
and I consider we should achieve much even were such the result.

The CHAIRMAN.— It may be that the practice of a country and a govern-
meut constituted like ours, may differ very widely from the practice of
governmeuts differently constituted ; but I know of no distinction which is
made in the national legislature of the United States, in the reception of

205.

citizens. "Within the last two
many gentlemen and ladies

petitions from foreigners and

years, indeed at the last two se

also, I believe, in this country, authors and authoresses, have petitioned the

Congress of the United States to secure to them the same right in their

publications which American authors have. I have never heard the objection

made before in our country on the score of the petition beiug sent in by

foreigners. I merely give the fact— make what use of it you please.

Colonel MILLER. — I feel very great delicacy in differing from the
gentleman near me. (Dr. Bowring). We contend in our country that the
right of petition is a right derived from God. We have a right to petition,
there is nobody so abject that has not this right. What have we assembled
for, let me ask ? To have a moral bearing on the world. If we make no
request to the potentates of the earth, can we expect them- to come and
inquire what we want of them ? Why, republican as I am, I would get down
on my knees to any Sovereign on the earth to beg the liberty of the oppressed.
I would do it most cheerfully. And shall we fall back now ? Our friend
Dr. Bowring has stated, what he got hy a single petition to Mohammed Axi,
that man who has waded to his place almost through seas of blood ; why, he
immediately set off on his dromedary to see that the poor slave's case was
attended to. And it may be, if we, insignificant as our names may appear, in
the eyes of the potentates of the earth, humhly beseech them in the name of
the God of mercy, and Him who died for our redemption, to have mercy on
these poor creatures, that they will grant it. Let us remember that beautiful
passage in the gospel respecting the poor widow and the unjust judge, though
he feared not God, nor regarded man, yet the widow prevailed by her impor-
tunity j then let not that importunity he neglected by us.

Mr. SPRAGUE.— I am sure there can be no objection to addressing a
communication to the President of the United States. I should much prefer
that to an address to the Congress of the United States ,• and for the same
reason that I should prefer a communication addressed to the President of
the United States, I shouldprefer one addressed to the King op the French.
We can get a communication to those individuals, as Sovereigns of nations,
when we cannot get it to the National legislature. And the grand object would
be attained ; the influence of this Convention would go out ; its addresses would
be published to the world ; its opinions would be known to the several nations
hy the heads of those nations, and thus our objects would be accomplished ;
but in addressing only governments and legislatures we might fail. My
opinion would be that an address should go to the President of the United
States, and the heads of different governments where slavery is tolerated.

Dr. GREVILLE, — I shall venture but a very few observations on this
subject. To my own mind the subject appears a very clear one. I mean to
say the propriety of the measure. At the same time, I quite appreciate, the
difficulty which Dr. Bowring has mentioned. If, however, the Convention
determines on appealing to governments, or the heads of governments, I
believe some means will be found of their reaching their destination. I look
upon ourselves as engaged wholly in a great moral question. If I see sin in
my neighbour, I am bound on my Christian principles to rebuke that sin, and
to do it in a Christian and a kindly spirit. If that is my duty as an individual,
it is surely our duty as a body now assembled for a special purpose, provided
we see sins in any other collective body on the face of the earth, to rebuke
them. I consider ourselves as of no nation ; as assembled from all nations,

as representing no one nation in particular, but all nations ; aimiug at one
grand moral end, and met for the special purpose of bearing upon all the
nations of the world. I do hope that we shall come unanimously to the
determination, that we have a right to appeal to all governments, and I hope
that we shall do so.

Dr. BOWRING.— A single word in explanation. I think I have been
misunderstood. I am not at all desirous that Governments and Monarchs
should not be addressed. I only spoke as to the form of doing it. It is quite
clear that our Parliament would not receive a petition from this Convention.
The petition from the Poles was rejected on a point of form.

A DELEGATE.— I think Dr. Bowring is wrong in saying that Par-
liament would not receive any communica.tion from this Convention ; I think
I was present when Parliament received a petition from the National Con-
vention.

Dr. BOWRING.— That was an English Convention.

Mr. S. BOWLY.— I would only ask in what worse a position would the
Convention be if its communications were rejected. Our object is to convey
information. If Parliament refuse to accept a petition, the information is
generally known to the country at large. Therefore I think that if an address
from this Convention were refused on technical grounds, the great object of
.... i u '.on would be attained.

Captain WAUCHOPE.— I believe, with all deference to our friend Dr.
Bowring, that it will be found that the official mode of sending petitions to
foreign governments, is to place them in the hands of the foreign ministers,
who are bound to transmit them.

Dr. BOWRING.— No.

Captain WAUCHOPE.— I believe it is so ; that is the case with private

ANTHONY FEWSTER, Esq.., (of Stroud).— I would ask any of our
American friends, whether in the event of this Convention determining to
address the President of the United States, the address would generally
appear in-the American newspapers.

Rev. C. E. LESTER.— Yes, and we could publish it as well in a cheap form.
I would beg leave to suggest one thought, whether it might not be proper
for this Convention to present a very respectful remonstrance to our minister
at the Court of St. James, that he set a better example to others when he
comes here, than by keeping his vassals in bondage at home.

Mr. J. FORSTER — The main question under consideration has reference to
foreign monarchs, though the term government, has been used. In all pro-
bability no difficulty would present itself in gaining access to the Kings
of France, Holland, or Denmark.

Rev. J. BURNET I think there is considerable difficulty in coining to a

decided rule on this subject. If we address the Sovebeign s of Europe, or the
President of the United States, by a rule passed here, and call on them to
accept our address, I am afraid they would not accept it so readily. I think
the best way would be, without coming to a resolution on the subject, to do
all we can in addressing governments, and leave it to the Committee to do all
they can ; but do not fiat it by the authority of this Convention, and ask them
to accept your address, because it is so ruled.

The CHAIRMAN.— No resolution has been offered on the subject.

Rev. J. BURNET.— Then it would be better to drop it.

207

Mr. B ALLEN. — I have a fourth question to propose. Is it not the case
that there are shares held by Euglishmenin Brazilian and other mines; which
are worked by slaves. I ask these questions because I think wc cannot fairly
go and point to a nation as foul, if wc do not endeavour to cleanse ourselves.

The Convention then adjourned.

FIFTH DAY'S SITTINGS, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17, 1840.

( MOBNING-.)

W. T. BLAIR, Esq., in the Chair.

The minutes of yesterday were read and confirmed.

Mr. SCOBLE on the call of the Chairman, proceeded to make the

following observations on

THE PRESENT STATE OP THE AFRICAN SLAVE-TRADE.
I did not expect that I should be called upon this morning to address
you on this most interesting and important subject. I had expected that
some other topic would have engaged the attention of the Convention.
But since I have received the intimation that I was to address you, I have
endeavoured to gather up such facts as will enable you to form some idea
of the extent of the slave-trade, as carried on at the present time. My
state of health however, will not permit me to go very much into detail.
Without any further preface, therefore, I will merely read what I have
collected from parliamentary and official documents, on the subject to which
your attention is to be called.

It is a fact placed beyond all doubt that the African slave-trade has
doubled sinee the period when Great Britain declared it unlawful and
felonious for any of her subjects to engage in it ; and that all the efforts
which have hitherto been made by this country, under treaties with
foreign powers for its entire suppression, have only multiplied its horrors
without diminishing its extent. Seventy-two thousand was the average
amount per annum, of the victims of this nefarious traffic, previously to
the year 1807; at the present time it cannot be less than one hundred
and forty thousand !

After the elaborate calculations and statements contained in Mr.
Buxton's important volume on the Slave-trade, it is unnecessary that
we should do more than add such information on the extent of the
slave-trade, as has appeared since it went to press. We begin with

Brazil. From official documents printed by command of bis late
Majesty in 1831, it appears there were introduced into the province of
Rio alone, during the three years, ending 30th June, 1830, no less than
448,940 slaves ; this gives an average of 49,646 per annum. Into
Bahia, Pernambuco, Maranham and Para, there were introduced from
1st January, 1829, to 30th June, 1830, a period of one year and a half,
32,332 slaves, or 21,554 annually; which gives for Brazil a total of
71,200 slaves imported each year. From this period (1830) agreeably
to stipulations with this country, the slave-trade was declared to be
piracy by the Emperor of Brazil. But we have the strongest evidence
to prove that it has increased in activity and extent since that time.
In the papers presented to Parliament in 1836, we find that the number
imported into the province of Rio alone, with which the -British
minister became acquainted, was for the year 1837, the extraordinary
number of 46,000 ! These wretched beings were imported in 92 vessels,
under the Portuguese flag, " within," as he states, " a very limited
extent of coast on either side the harbour of Rio de Janeiro." In 1838,
the number reported to have been introduced in 84 Portuguese vessels
in the same district, was 36,974 ; but the British minister adds this
remark to the return, " the real number imported into the province
(Rio) is probably 40,000 or upwards."

It appears that during the year, our cruizers off that station made
several captures : and that, in consequence, the slavers were warned off
and landed their cargoes on other parts of the coast. How many may
have been landed in the provinces of Bahia, Pernambuco, Maranham,
and Para, during the same period, we have no means of judging;
there cannot be a doubt, however, that the number equals, if it does not
surpass that of any former period. The extent of coast to which the
slavers have access, comprehends a space of more than 2600- miles, and
affords every possible facility for carrying on their nefarious operations.
Lieutenant Armitage, who is well acquainted with the subject, and
has had ample means of judging, gives it as his opinion, that 90,000
slaves are annually imported into Brazil, from the coast of Africa.

We next take Cuba. It is extremely difficult to ascertain the
probable number of slaves introduced into this island annually, the data
on which to form a correct judgment, being so extremely imperfect. It
appears, however, from the statements of the commissioners in their
official correspondence with Her Majesty's Government, that, " at the

209

very least, 15,000 negroes" were landed at the Havana in 1835.
In the papers printed by her Majesty's command last year, we
find that in the year 1837, forty-eight vessels, and in 1838, forty-
four vessels, entered the Havana with slaves, the average of each being
443, would give a total of 40,756 slaves imported into that one
port alone, during that time. The number of vessels ascertained to
have been employed during these two years, amounted to 142, of which
eighty-two were Portuguese, twenty-seven Spanish, thirty American
(United States), the remaining three, sailed under Swedish, Brazilian,
and French flags.

In transmitting these lists home, her Majesty's Commissioners in
their letter to Lorb Palmeeston, dated 1st January, 1839, say: —
" While we feel gratified to think that these lists, on account of the
source from whieh they are obtained, are much more complete than
any furnished in preceding years, we regret to add, that they still
remain less complete than might be desired from the parties being more
upon their guard to baffle our inquiries. Still it is apparent from
them, -that no increase of the traffic has taken place during the past
year; the number of vessels dispatched being precisely the same, namely,
seventy-one. "Whatever increase has taken place, has been from vessels
being dispatched more from the other ports of the island ; though in
this, as in many other particulars, little reliance can be placed on the
reports that reach us. But there is great reason to believe that this
plan has been for some time increasing. Eight vessels were condemned
as Spanish at Sierra Leone, in the year 1837, and two at this place ; of
which it appears from the printed accounts, that two belonged to
Puerto Rico, two to Santiaga de Cuba, one to Mantanzas, one to
Trinidad de Cuba, and only four were connected with Havana.

Of eighteen vessels condemned at Sierra Leone, under the Portuguese
flag, in the same year, nine only appear to us to have belonged to this
port; of eight Portuguese condemned in the first six months of the
present year at Sierra Leone, we can, from the names and particulars
communicated to us, trace only two. Thus, then, it appears, that an
increasing trade is carried on from other places, which is further corro-
borated by the well ascertained fact, that an astonishing number of
new estates have been opened throughout the island within the last
two years. In the district of Cienfuegos, of forty estates now working
there, twenty-seven have been of recent formation ; and though this

210

may be above tbe average, we believe it does not mueh exceed the pro-
portion of many other distriets in eourse of cultivation."

How many slavers effected the landing of their cargoes in Puerto
Rico, we have no offieial data for showing, but that many thousands
are annually introduced into that eolony there can be no doubt.

Mr. Turnbull and Dr. Madden, fix the annual amount of slaves
imported into the Havana, at about 25,000. Mr. Buxton at 60,000,
in which he is home out by various authorities ; and gives, as the
probable number imported into Puerto Rico, 7000 more. That the two
former gentlemen have plaeed the estimate too low, we think there ean
be no doubt ; that Mr. Buxton may have plaeed it too high is pro-
bable, although I am inelined to believe, that his statement will be
found to approximate very near to the aetual number introdueed.
In January, 1839, there were landed at the Havana 2833 slaves ; in
February 2555 ; in March 1258 ; and at Mantanzas 580, in all 7226, in
three months, besides those which were landed elsewhere, and of which
no information eould be obtained.

During the year ending 31st December, 1838, the number of vessels
eaptured by British eruizers, and condemned by the mixed Com-
mission Courts at Sierra Leone, was thirty ; of whieh nineteen were
Portuguese, and eleven were Spanish. The slaves taken on board of
seventeeu of these vessels, amounted to 5847 ; the number found ou
board the remaining thirteen vessels is not given. The number eap-
tured and eondemned at Rio de Janeiro, during the six months, ending
the 30th June, 1838, was three, having on board 746. The proportion
however of eaptured vessels is extremely small, compared with those
aetually engaged in the slave-trade whieh successfully proseeute their
voyage.

It is quite evident that the Brazilian slave-trade is inereasing, and
that it is carried on openly either with the connivanee, or in direet
defiance of the authorities. In a despateh from Mr. Ouselby, dated 23rd
March, 1839, he states:—" There are at this moment in Rio Harbour,
between thirty and forty vessels, bought and equipped by a notorious
slave-trader, provided with Portuguese papers by H. M. F. M., Consul-
General."

In view of all the faets of the case, there ean be little doubt that the
victims of the Brazilian slave-trade, amount to 75,000 per annum, and
that making every possible deduction from Mr. Buxton's statement of

the Spanish slave-trade, not less certainly than 50,000 more are
sacrificed to it; what numbers over and above these are introduced
annually into Texas, Buenos Ayres, and elsewhere, it is impossible to
say; but adding to them the number captured by British cruize rs, and
the numbers who perish at sea from the storms and other casualties, it
appears highly probable, that 140,000 Africans are annually torn from
their native land, to meet the demand for slaves in the New "World,
and it is not likely that this number will diminish. Texas, should it
be able to maintain its independence, will open a vast market for slaves,
whilst the decrease of slaves in the Spanish colonies, amounting to 8^
per cent, per annum, and in the Brazils, amounting to 5 per cent, per
annum, will require at least 140,000 per annum to keep their present
strength.

One feature of the slave-trade as carried on at the present time is,
that the demand is principally for children, and prime young people,
under twenty years of age. On board four vessels captured in 1838,
and condemned at Sierra Leone, there were found 751 children, and 512
adults. It is sometimes the case, that the cargo is wholly composed of
children. In the harbour of Ponce, Puerto Rico, which I visited about
the middle of the last year, I found that the last cargo of slaves, 140
in number, which had been introduced, was composed entirely of
children under twelve years of age.

I will not add any details of the horrors of the slave-trade, of the
devastating and demoralizing effect of this nefarious traffic in the wars
which it engenders in the interior of Africa, in the waste of human
life, arising from the march of the slave coffles, across the burning and
arid deserts of that continent, or in the destruction of refuse slaves on
the coast : suffice it to say, that for every negro put on board the
Spauish or Brazilian slaver, two perish, thus swelling the actual number
of victims annually sacrificed to Mammon and Moloch, to an enormous
amount. Nor will I detain your attention, by describing the horrors
of the middle passage, with these, alas ! you are already too familiar, -
beyond stating the bare fact, that the average mortality on the voyage
has been ascertained to be 25 per cent. ; and that at this hour, there
are probably not less than 20,000 Africans on their transit across the
Atlantic, to supply the slave-markets of the western world.

The victims of the Eastern or Mohammedan slave-trade are com-
puted at 100,000 per annum.

Dr. R. R. Madden, (of Dublin), late protector of liberated Africans
in Cuba, then read the following paper on

CUBAN SLAVERY.

Sm,— I am so fully aware that my habits do not qualify me for the
task that has been assigned me, and my state of health renders me so
unequal to it, that nothing but a strong sense of the importance of the
question I have been requested to afford some information on, could
surmount the reluctance I feel, at presenting myself before a public
meeting ; and especially before such an assembly as this, where, if I felt
a momentary satisfaction in being recognised as one, who at least was
known to be willing to serve this cause, who had walked after the
hearse of slavery in Jamaica, assisted likewise in this country at the
obsequies of the apprenticeship system, and employed a practised eye
for some years past in taking the measure of the grave of slavery in
Cuba itself; if in anything I have encountered of toil or peril in this
cause, in the service of which I have spent the last seven years, I may
say not in the peaceful closets of philanthropy, but in the field of slavery
itself, as a mercenary, if you will, but as a soldier at all events, if any
such feeling of pride was excited, the foolishness of it would be surely
rebuked, by the presence and the hearing of those men who have so
long toiled in the cause; but most especially of those men from
America, who have come as one great cloud of witnesses across the
Atlantic, and made you acquainted, not only with the wrongs of their
black brethren, but likewise personally so with the heroic courage, and
untiring energies which they have devoted to this question.

It has been my fortune to have visited America three times during
the last six years, and to have been afforded an ample opportunity of
observing these truly noble men in the sphere of their own- duties and
dangers — for these are never separated in America ; and if I had reason
to rejoice for no other cause to have taken a part in these proceedings,
than to have been permitted to bear my feeble testimony to the con-
stancy of the courage of these brave, bold men, the most virtuous and
amiable withal, I ever knew engaged in public strife, the most strongly
actuated by high and generous motives, and the least influenced by
anything vain or selfish — I would rejoice to have this occasion of re-
cording my humble opinion of their worth : and yet I have heard these
men counselled here to be more moderate in their language, and more

213

n their rebukes. Why, this is the counsel that ever has been
given to persecuted men ; they are told they should " let the sweat of
agony flow more decorously down their foreheads — they should groan
in melody," and murmur their complaints in softer whispers. Were
these the accents in which your own reformers spoke in former times ?
Are these the accents, in which great complaints, real, or imaginary,
have ever been proffered, or in which those who uttered them have
made them to be redressed ?

We are told that in the early ages of Christianity, slavery was known
to exist, and slaves have been held by Christians, even in the times of
the apostles. It is some consolation to know, however, that although
there were slaves in the early ages of Christianity, there bave been
martyrs in the latter ages of slavery ; and one of those noble soldiers
of the cross, who sealed the covenant of truth with his blood in those
early times, has declared, that there were two kinds of martyrdom ;
one that gained the crown by the exercise of a sudden act of Christian
fortitude; the other was a perpetual martyrdom that lasted during
life, and only ended with it. And this was the highest martyrdom
of all This is the kind of suffering and of sacrifice, our friends in
America have undergone, and are daily undergoing there.

As for the assertion, that there have been slaves in the early ages of
Christianity, I for one admit that such was the case ; but for what
purpose are the smouldering ashes of the Hebrew customs and usages,
that were suffered to exist in those early times of Christianity, to be
raked up ? Surely, if there be anything more evident than another in
the whole history of religion, it is this, that whatever revelation has
been made to us from on high, the whole course of God's teaching and
communicatiou has been of a progressive character ; and that from the
beginning of that teaching to the period of the greatest revelation of
all, that progressive character has been seen in the course of the deve-
lopment of the higher truths and more exalted doctrines that were
taught, and that no violent disruption from what had gone before, was -
permitted ; but in the words of Augustin, that it was apparently the
inscrutable pleasure of Providence " that the synagogue should be
buried with honour." And with it were interred those customs which
were tolerated, perhaps, on account of the hardness of heart, which
had given a temporary sanction to other usages no longer in existence.

But the subject I have to speak to you on, is of somewhat a

more praetical kind, and sueh as befits a praetical man to deal with ;
namely, the state of slavery in Cuba, and on this subjeet I have en-
countered so mueb error, both at home and abroad, that I have felt it
my duty to give very partieular attention to it.

In the Report presented hy Mows. A. db Tocqtjeville, to the
Chamber of Deputies, on the 23rd of July, 1839, iu the name of the
Commission, eharged with the examination of the proposition relative
to the slaves of the Freneh colonies, I find a very important error, and
one not only prevalent in Franee, hut in this country also, on the sub-
jeet of the treatment of negroes held in bondage in the Spanish colonies,
whieh if allowed to pass uneontradicted, might hereafter expose that
valuable Report to eensure, and lead to the adoption of measures for the
■ nominal amelioration of slavery in the Freneh eolonies, whieh would
prove abortive. At page 17, of the published Report, I find it stated,
that "it is of public notoriety in the New World, that slavery has
always had with the Spaniards a peeuliar charaeter of mildness ; one
ean eonvinee himself of this in reading over the ordiuanees made by
the Kings of Spain, at an epoeb when, amongst the other nations of
Europe, the laws for the government of slaves were so strongly tine-
tured with barbarity. TheSpaniards who showed themselves so cruel
towards the Indians, have always ruled their slaves with a singular
humanity. In their colonies, the distinction between blacks and whites
was less than in all the others ; and the authority of the owner resembled
more that of a father of a family than of a master. The slave, better
treated in these eolonies, sighed less after liberty, whieh ought to bo
preeeded by arduous exertion ; henee, the legislator accorded him a right
whieh he very seldom wished to avail himself of."

Now, in the above statement, there are six distinet propositions, and
five of them are entirely erroneous, namely, these :—

1. That negro slavery has always had in the Spanish dominions " a
peculiar eharaeter of mildness."

2. That any sufficient proof of such a eharaeter eould be fairly drawn
from the ordinances of the Kings of Spain for the government of their
distinet eolonies.

3. That the Spauiards, who had been sueh eruel masters to the
Indians, " had always treated their slaves with singular humanity."

4. That the authority of the master " resembles that of a father of a
family."

mmmmmmsmmmm

5. That in eonsequenee of good and humane treatment, the slaves
seldom desired to avail themselves of the privilege of claiming their
freedom by purehase.

And the only statement that is really eorreet in the whole passage,
is eontained in these words : — " In these eoionies the distinction between
blaeks and whites, was less than in all the others," presuming the
meaning of the observation to be, that, amongst the Spaniards the pre-
judice against the stolen people of Afriea, on aecount of their eom-
plexion, is less than amongst the eolonists of other European states.
Such unquestionably is the faet, and there is too much Moorish blood,
in the veins of the descendants of the old " Conquisdadors/' for the
feeling to be otherwise.

Tolerably well acquainted with some of the British West India
islands, with one of them both previously and subsequently to the act
of emancipation, and having seen something of slavery in many eastern
countries; I brought perhaps some little knowledge of the eondition of
men held in slavery to the subject, wliieh has been the ohjeet of anxious
inquiry with me, during a residenee of upwards of three years in a Spanish
eolony where slavery flourishes, and where upwards of 400,000 human
beings exist in that condition. Perhaps, this extensive acquaintance
with slavery in various eountries, during the last ten years, may have
qualified me to form some opinion of the relative evils or advantages of
slavery in a Spanish colony.

The first proposition — " That slavery has always had with the
Spaniards a peculiar character of mildness," is one, that I have seen
stated in books so often, and heard laid down so frequently by mer-^
ehants who have resided in Cuba; by naval offieers who have visited
the shores and harbours of that island ; and by transient visitors who
have made tours of pleasure or a winter journey, in pursuit of health
from one large town on the eoast to another, and seen the interior
eeonomy of one or two estates of opulent proprietors, what in our
eoionies wonld be ealled " erack plantations," that I really feel asto-
nished at the amount of error that prevails on this subjeet ; error so
great, and held by men entitled to eredit, that I have sometimes felt
absolutely doubtful of the evidence of my own senses ; and when the
irresistible eonvietion of the exeessive rigour of slavery in Cuba has been
foreed on my mind, and when I have dwelt on the appalling seenes I
have witnessed, it often seemed hopeless to me, and even imprudent for

216

me to attempt to disabuse the public mind, aud to set my experience
against the opinions of many people, whose sentiments on any other
subject, I considered entitled to respect. But on a question of such vast
importance, and where erroneous sentiments are calculated to do so
much injury to the objects of the solicitude of anti-slavery exertion, it
would be an act of cowardice to suppress the truth, or at least one's
strong persuasion of it, in deference to error, however generally diffused
or honestly adhered to, it may be. These erroneous couclusions, that
Spanish slavery is of a peculiarly mild character, are arrived at by four
ways of viewing this question ; they may be briefly stated as follows : —

1 . It is concluded; because the laws for the governmeut of slaves in
the Spanish colonies are mild, that these laws are execnted, and the
slaves are happy.

2. It is considered by some who visit the large sea-port towns, that
the condition of the preedial slaves is similar to that of the domestic-
servants ; and that because the latter are lazy, well fed, and decently
clad, and lightly worked negroes, the poor field slaves are likewise idle
and indulged, kindly treated, and contented slaves.

3. The condition of slaves is judged of by men who have no imme-
diate interest in slavery, but who have long resided in slave countries,
or been on stations where opportunities of visiting these colonies have
made them acquainted with the proprietors of estates, and in course of
time, familiar with their views, then favourable to their interests, and
at length accustomed to the evils of slavery, and insensible to the suffer-
ings of its victims.

4. The treatment of slaves, in general, in Cuba and elsewhere, is
inquired into by transient visitors and tourists, at the tables of the
planters, over the wine of the slave-holders, and where truth is
drowned in hospitality, and the legitimate inquisitiveness of a stranger's
curiosity, is merged in a courteons acquiescence with the sentiment, or
at least the statements of a liberal entertainer, aud a gentlemanlike host.

Now, of these different ways of coming to conclusions, it is evident,
that it is to the first the signal error of the French Report is to be
attributed. In fact, it seems admitted that the opinion of the mildness
of Spanish slavery, is derived from the royal ordinances and laws made
for the regulation of it. T freely grant that the spirit of these laws
and ordinances is humane ; but the great question is, are such laws
compatible with the interests of the slave-owners? Are they put in

217

execution ? Negro slavery, as it ever has existed in the West India
colonies, bas been a condition in wbicb the profitableness to tbe master
of unpaid labour, for the time being, bas always rendered the happi-
ness of the labourer, a question of comparative unimportance. "What
you should call humanity to the negro, there is not a proprietor in Cuba,
who would not deem injustice to the planter. You cannot legislate
partially, humanely, and yet efficiently, for any slave colony in a pros-
perous condition ; you may pass measures of general effect for the total
abolition of slavery, but you can carry none into execution for effec-
tually modifying its nature, and leaving unpaid labour to be wrung
out of its victims : while a show is made of surrounding its compulsion
with humane arrangements, duly detailed in the royal cedulas, and
set forth in legal books, with all the solemn mockery of Spanish law.

This Report states, as a curious anomaly in the history of Spauish
slaves, that while the Indians were treated by the Spaniards with such
terrible cruelty, the negroes, it is well known, have always been treated
with peculiar mildness. I need hardly remind you, that while the poor
Indians were writhing under the lasb of the most unmitigated cruelty
the world up to that period ever saw ; while tbe Spanish colonies were
exterminating the whole race of their victims by the astounding rigour
of their slavery, tbe Kings of Spain were dictating benevolent cedulas
and humane ordinances for the treatment of tbe unfortunate slaves ; while
the council of tbe Indies were continually framing laws for the better
regulation of the " repartimientos," or distributions of the natives ; while
the heads of the Spanish churcb, the mitred politicians of the day, half
statesmen, half churchmen, were constantly sending out missions and
commissions to co-operate with the illustrious apostle of the Indies, the
protector of the slaves ; in fact, while all the machinery of tbe govern-
ment that was four thousand miles off, was brought to bear on this
question of the amelioration of slavery in the Spanish colonies, yet the
Indians perished in tbe mines, they died under the lash, sunk under
famine in caves, or sought in voluntary death a final refuge from
Spanish cruelty. Yes, the whole race perished, while the Kings of Spain
and its ministers, were framing laws impracticable, because they were
partial measures of relief, for the preservation of their Indian subjects.

Let me tell you, the same terrible system of cruelty is going on
this day in the Spanish colonies ; the same terrible evils are silently in
operation. Change the term Indians for Negroes, the word mines for

218

plantations, and in eyery other respect the same bloody tragedy is acting
over again, the same frightful work of extermination, the same cruel
mockery of staying the evil by laws without enforcement, by cedulas
without a hope being entertained of their being carried into effect, are
now practising in New Spain ; and the awful waste of human life, that
in the time of the Indians, was for a limited period made up by the
ravages of the inan-robbers on the coasts of the New World, has now
for three centuries been filled up in Cuba alone, by an annual impor-
tation that has now reached to the amount of 25,000 stolen men from
the shores of Africa.

If it be notorious, as this Report states, that negro slaves have
always been treated with peculiar mildness in the Spanish colonies,
it follows, that the slaves of the island of Cuba, for example, are a con-
tented race, that therefore, they are not over-worked, nor under-fed, nor
ill-clad; that the sexes are equalized, that the mortality is small,
and the increase by births considerable ; that the amount of produce
obtained by the labour of a given number of slaves, is less than it has
been in former years in the British colonics ; that there is a considerable
number of aged slaves on the estates ; that the pregnant women are
allowed exemption from hard field-labour in the last six or eight weeks
of their pregnancy, that the females are not usually flogged ; that the
children arc instructed in the elements of the Christian faith ; that the
negroes on the estates are married by the ministers of religion ; that
they are suffered to attend a place of worship on the Sabbath-day ; that
it is not lawful to hunt them down by dogs when they are fugitives
from the estates ; that, when they are scourged to death, or killed by
violence, the white man who is their murderer may be brought to
justice, and punished with the utmost rigour of the law. But not one
of these measures of justice, or means of protection for the prsedial
slaves is known to exist in Cuba ; not a single one of these I have
pointed out is to be looked for in the law, and yet the law allows these
things, and solemnly condemns every withdrawal of them. But the
law was never framed with any reasonable prospect of its being en-
forced, it never has been euforced, and, what is more, it never can be
enforced against the planters who are the transgressors of it ; because,
in fact, these are the men who are entrusted with the execution of it.

In the towns and cities, the case is indeed different with the domestic
slaves, but what a small portion do these fomi of the number of slaves

219

in Cuba ? These domestic slaves, especially those of the opulent pro-
prietors, comparing their eondition with that of the prsedial slaves, may
be said to be fortunately circumstaneed. They have the power in the
large towns and cities, of availing themselves of the privileges the law
accords them. If they have a harsh owner, they may demand permis-
sion to seek another master, and it is compulsory on that master to sell
them, either for the sum he paid for them, or at such a rate as the sindico
or the special protector of the slaves, and the judges may determine, in
consideration of any reasonable increase in their value, or in consequence
of their having been taught a trade or calling.

But how is the prsedial slave to avail himself of these legal pri-
vileges ? The officers of justice in the country towns are usually slave-
holders themselves ; the estate may be ten, nay, even twenty miles distant
from a town, the sindicos, the alcades, the capitanes de partidos, all are
planters. The idea of a pnedia! slave going to the mayoral, or over-
seer, and telling him he wants "a paper" — a permission for two or
three days to seek another master (buscar-amo), — would be laughed at
in Cuba ; the unfortunate negro who would make so daring an attempt
to obtain his rights, would, in all probability, be flogged on the spot ;
he dare not leave the estate to seek the sindico in any adjoining town;
and no matter what injustice may be done him, were he to pass his mas-
ter's gate, he would be subjected to punishment, " boca abajo," without
appeal, as a fugitive; and if he still presumed to talk of the law, and to
insist on being taken before a magistrate, to claim the privileges which
that law gave him, he would then be treated with a degree of rigour
" beyond the law," as an insolent and rebellious slave. But granting
that he succeeded in getting to the sindico, the alcade, or the capitane
de parti do, what chance of justice has an unfortunate slave in Cuba,
against the powerful influence of a rich, and, perhaps, a titled owner ?
The planter is the friend of the authorities of his district ; they dare not
disoblige him ; and if they dared, they are at last to be gained over by a
bribe, or got rid of by a remonstrance to the Govebnob, and a suitable
present to the assessor of the Govebnob, who is one of the great law-
officers of the Crown. How in the name of common sense is the law
to be looked to in a Spanish colony for the mitigation of the evils of
slavery, or the protection of the slave ?

The excellence of the Spanish civil law is admitted by every one, yet
the iniquity of Spanish tribunals, the corruption of Spanish judges, and

the incomparable villany of Spanish lawyers, is proverbial in all the
colonies of Spain. Justice is bought and sold in Cuba, with as much
scandalous publicity, as the bozal slaves are bought and sold in the
barracones.

Is there a man in Cuba who had suffered wrong in property or in
person, who would be mad enough to go for redress into a court of
law, and expect to obtain it by trusting solely to the merits of his case ?
How then, are we to expect from any code for the regulation of negro
slavery, justice for the Creole who has not the means to buy the judge 1
How are we to expect to restrain the cruelty, or to control the cupidity
of men, who have the means to bribe the bench of every tribunal in the
land to make " impregnos," as these solicitations are called, with the
sous and servants, the cousins and the familiars of the judges in their
cause? Is it, then, to cedulas and laws, to parchment justice, or to
statute book benevolence, we are to look for that peculiar character of
mildness, which your Report assures us, is the characteristic of slavery in
Spanish colonies ? Surely, what we know of slavery in every country,
where it has existed, should be sufficient to satisfy every enlightened
person, that bondage is an evil that cannot be mitigated by any partial
measures of reform, so as essentially to serve the slave, to improve the
system, to humanize the master, and thus to benefit society at large.

But in Cuba, it is not that I have heard or read of the atrocities
of Spanish slavery; I saw them with my own eyes. I lived for a
whole year at the Havana, before I could so far disembarrass myself of
the merchant-planter influence of that place, (that deadening influence
of slavery, which steals so imperceptibly over the feelings of strangers
in the West Indies), as to form an opinion for myself, and to trust to
my own senses alone, for a knowledge of the condition of the prasdial
slaves. It was only when I visited estates, not as a guest of the pro-
prietors, seeing through the eyes of my hospitable hosts, thinking as
they thought, and believing as they saw fit to administer to my
credulity the customary after dinner dose of the felicity of slaves ; it
was only when I went alone, and unkuown, and unexpected on their
estates, that the terrible atrocities of Spanish slavery astounded my
senses. I have already said, and I repeat the words, so terrible were
these atrocities, so murderous the system of slavery, so transcendent the
evils I witnessed, over all I had ever heard or seen of the rigour of slavery
elseichere, that at first I could hardly believe the evidence of my senses.

Nay, I have known men of great intelligence, one in particular, whom
it was of great consequence to have heen well-informed on this subject,
and whom I myself accompanied over several estates in various parts of
the country ; and here in Cuba, so terrible were the admissions made by
the mayorals or overseers, on the estates we visited, that he could not
believe he heard correctly the accounts that were given to us, even by
the managers themselves, of the frightful rigour of the treatment they
described. Till this gentleman (who is known to this Convention) and
myself, made partially known at the Havana, the evils that had come
to our knowledge, on the sugar estates especially, there were British
and other foreign merchants in that city, who had resided there for years,
who said they were utterly ignorant of these evils ; but Eke the framers
' of this Eeport, having read certain laws for the protection of slaves,
and seen certain cedulas for the nominal mitigation of the cruelties of
slavery, they actually imagined that the laws were enforced, and the
negroes happy and humanely treated.

With respect to my own experience, it is not by particular instances
of cruelty or oppression, the fact is to be established, that slavery in
Cuba is more destructive to human life, more pernicious to society,
degrading to the slave, and debasing to the master, more fatal to health
and happiness, than in any other slave-holding country on the face of the
habitable globe. Instances of cruelty enough, no doubt, have come to
my knowledge of the murder of negroes, perpetrated with impunity ;
of men literally scourged to death ; of women torn from their children,
and separated from them ; of estates where an aged negro is not to be
seen : where the females do not form a third part of the slave popula-
tion; nay, of estates where there is not a single female ; of labour in the
time of crop on the sugar properties being twenty continued hours, fre-
quently for upwards of six months in the year, seldom or never under five,
and of the general impression prevailing on this subject, and generally
acted on by the proprietors, that four hours' sleep is sufficient for a slave.
These cases, were I to bring them before you without a shadow
of colouring to heighten the effect of the naked outline of so frightful
a detail, I am persuaded, would cause you to marvel that such things
could be in a Christian land, could occur in the present age, could be
done by men who moved in society, who are tolerated in it, and bear
the name and wear the garb of gentlemen ; by a people, in short, pro-
fessing the religion of Christ, and daring to couple the sanctity of that

name with rapine, murder, and the living death of slavery itself, which
are carried on even in its name ; for the pnrpose, forsooth, of making
Christians of African unbelievers.

To understand thoroughly the suhject of the laws in the Spanish
colonies for the protection of slaves, it is necessary to refer to a work, not
easily to be met with, being only to be found in the hands of the syndics,
which is entitled "Exposicion sobre el origen, utilidad, prerogativas,
derecho, y deheres de los sindicos procuradores generales de los pueblos,
por D. Jose Serapio Majorrietta ahogado de la real audiencia." This
hook it is to be noted, is printed at Puerto Principe, in Cuba, by royal
authority, hy command, and at the expense of the Eeal Audiencia, the
highest law trihunal in the island ; and it is the legal guide of the
syndics, or protectors of slaves, in the administration of justice between
master and slave, over the whole .island, and by which they are honnd
to act. The work hegins hy stating that the Supreme Court, in the
year 1766, created the office of syndic ; every town was placed under
the legal protection of one of these officers : its rights were to he
defended by them; and in the words of the cedulas, " When there was
any grave or important matter, it should he treated by them, joining
themselves with some of the neighbours (juntandose con los vecinos) for
the consideration of it." Now, here is a most important regulation for
the due administration of justice; in fact, one giviug to the accused
the advantages, to a certain extent, of a jury.

And now let us see how the law authorities of Cuha, as represented
in this work, interpret these words. The treatise in question says : —
" These words are not to be understood in their literal sense ; this me-
thod is contrary to the nature of our government ; and for this reason,
so responsible is the post of a syndic, that he is appointed not by an
open meeting (cahildo ahiorto) of the corporation ayuntamiento, but by
the votes of the judicial body, or the regidores. Their duties in the
rural districts are to watch over the order and maintenance of the puhlic
markets, the prevention of monopolies in corn, meat, &c. ; inspecting the
accounts of overseers, agents, &c. ; protecting the interests of proprietors
of estates hefore the trihunals of the district, by all the legal privileges
accorded them, even to the point of demanding the suspension of the
royal laws, or ordinances, in which they may hurt or harm some private
e porder pedir la suspeucion, do las cedulas y
e dana a sigun particular).

person," (hasta el punto d
reales rescriptos, en qua s<

223

Behold the value of all the royal laws for the protection of slaves.
The syndic, their protector, is likewise the legal defender of his master ;
and the suspension of every law that is distasteful to the latter, it is in
the power of this officer to demand of the higher tribunals of the law.
In fact, the whole secret of the conduct of the Cuban Government, with
respect to the fulfilment of the treaties with England, for the suppres-
sion of the slave-trade, and the laws which enforce them, is here left
out ; and the shameful duplicity of the Government of Spam, with re-
spect to these royal orders, is disclosed, for at page 10, of the treatise in
question, the opinion of the legal authorities of the island is laid down
as to the proper mode of interpretation of the royal cedulas, when these
are opposed to Creole interests, or supposed to be so, in these words :
" It has been laid down by his Majesty, that his sovereign will is,
(with respect to the laws) that they be obeyed and not fulfilled ;" aud
reference is made to lib. 16, Nov. Recap, (come se tiene manifestado
que su soberana voluntad, es que se obedezcan y nose cumplan). This
seems to me to be the very acme, indeed, of public immorality ; and
there is no reason to doubt the duplicity of the conduct here ascribed
to his Spanish Majesty, and the weakness of his sovereign will, and
that he frames laws for the purposes of delusion, to fihrow dust in the
eyes of foreign powers, or to deceive bis own subjects at home, and
which are to be obeyed and not executed.

Now, with respect to the jurisdiction of the syndics in the case of
slaves, and the mode of iuterpretiug the laws for their defence, this
treatise lays down very minute rules, and points out a course of
proceeding which is universally acted on in Cuba; for it is to be
remembered this treatise is published with the express sanction and
approbation of the judges of the highest tribunal of the land, of the
real audiencia. " It is to be observed," says the author, " either the
rights which slaves complain of being infringed, are violated by their
masters, or a third person. In the last case, their complaint is to be
preferred by their masters, by the general rules of right, which sub-
ject them entirely to those who exercise dominion over them ; but if
the slaves attempt to complain (intentan presentarse) against their
masters, then comes the authority of the syndics, because by no other
mode can there be made a true decision, there being no legitimate liti-
gation of parties, which consists in this, that the plaintiff and the
criminal should be different persons. But supposing this distinction to

224

be made in sueh a ease (as perhaps some one might say it ought to he),
it appears the slave ought to have the right of naming an attorney or
agent (personero), and the law, that so much proteets the natural de-
fence of the slave, should leave in his power the exercise of this precious
right. But how many inconveniences would not this measure eause ?
In the first plaee, slaves have no proper person (los esdavos no tienen
persona), they have no representation in society, they are considered as
things subjeet to the dominion of man ; and ill could such beings name
agents or attorneys, who eannot appear in their own eharacter in our
courts. And yet, if abating the rigour of fixed principles, we chose to
leave to slaves the free eleetion of which we treat, how many and how
expensive would be the causes whieh would inundate our tribunals,
and what would be the insubordination alone of this class of domesties,
when unfortunately interested men are not wanting to derive the advan-
tage of luere from sueh miserable discord. The syndies, however, as
chosen by the corporation, should be adorned with all the fine qualities
we have already stated, and in the degree that they may undertake
to proteet the rights of these unfortunates, they will take eare to
beware of eneouraging unjust eomplaints, by maintaining the slaves
under due submission and respeet, which system is eertainly the most
happy that ean be adopted, to eoneiliate the private interest of the
slaves with those of the owners of them."

Now the next interpretation of the royal law, or cedula of 1789,
which at page 3, ordains the regulation of the daily labour of slaves,
" so that it should begin and eonclude from sunrise to sunset ;" and,
moreover, should leave them two hours of the intermediate time for
their own use and benefit, is given in these terms ; terms indeed most
worthy of your profound attention : — " But this is not observed, and
neither the magistrates regulate the time of labour, nor do the slaves
eease to serve their masters at all hours of the day ;" (Esto no se
observa y ni las justitias, ni los esclavos dejan de servir a sus duenos en
to das las Iwras del did). Well may the expounder of the sentiments
of the royal tribunal of the audiencia of Cuba say, the laws are not
observed, " the slaves cease not at all hours of the day to work for their

But this seeond Daniel, this Cuban eommentator on Spanish law,
rigidly indeed, as he stieks to the sense of the eolonial judges, tells but
half the truth, when he says that " the slaves eease not to work for

225
their masters at all hours of the day ;" he should have said on the
sugar estates, during the time of the crop, for upwards of six months in
the year, at all hours of the night, with the exception of four for sleep.
It did not suit the purpose of the royal audiencia, to startle the ears or
astonish the weak minds of the people in the towns, with the frightful
announcement, or the appalling statement, that the wretched negroes, in
spite of the express terms of the royal law for the regulation of slam-
labour, were worked to death on these estates, for twenty continuous
hours, twelve in the field, and eight in the boiling-house or at the mill ;
and that even on the coffee-estates, where the necessity for hard labour
is so much less, it is a common practice, at certain times of the year,
during the bright moonlight nights, to work the slaves at field-work
for four or five hours by the " Clara de la luna," as it is called. But
what are the sentiments of the royal audiencia, on the subject of the
great privilege on paper conferred by the laws on the slave, in the
power nominally given him of purchasing his freedom, or portions of it,
by the payment at once, or at different periods, of the price his
master paid for him? It is to be observed, that the payment of a part
of this sum to the master, gives the negro the legal right of having
that sum deducted from his price whenever he happens to be sold, and
entitles him, as it is most erroneously but generally believed, to an imme-
diate reduction of labour in proportion to the sum paid.

In the year 1325, this error is fallen into in a very able statement,
addressed to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, by one of the
British Commissioners at the Havana, on the treatment of the
Spanish slaves, and the mode of manumission in the Spanish colonies.
And no doubt the origin of this error was the same as of that into
which others have fallen, in common with all who estimate the value
of Spanish laws by the wording, and not by the execution of them. The
paying- of a sum of money to a master on the part of a slave towards
the purchase of his liberty, renders the payer what is called " coartado,"
the meaning of which is, in part manumitted. The word is derived
from coartar, to cut or separate, and not from quartear, to divide into
four parts, as is commonly supposed.—" Some syndics," says the law
treatise in question, " have attempted to alleviate slavery, so as to pre-
tend to concede a half of their time to slaves who are bound in
service to their masters," (when they have paid half of their value to
their owners) ; " but this opinion is not in conformity with the law,

and the syndics should respect the rights of the proprietary power,
without allowing themselves to he led astray by a notion of equity
badly understood. The coartacion (or part payment made to a master
by a slave towards the attainment of freedom) was not established to
reduce slavery into halves, but only to prevent any alteration in the "
price to the slaves. A slave who, being worth 500 dollars, gives to his
master 400 hy way of coartacion, remains as subject to servitude as
any slave who is so entirely. The master cannot he deprived of the
proper rights of his authority, and the slave is under the obligation of
devoting all his service to him ; for such reasons the syndics ought to
avoid the wish to establish such demands." Then comes the interpre-
tation of the law of Cuba, as laid down in this treatise, on that most
important privilege of all to the negroes in Spanish colonies, the power
nominally given by the law to the slave who is ill-treated, or discon-
tented with good cause with his master, to seek another owner, on pay-
ment of the price at which he might be valued by the judicial autho-
rities. Now hear the mouth-piece of the real audiencia of Cuba on
this subject.

" The question may also be asked, if slaves (coartados) have the
right to go out of the power .of their masters whenever they desire ; and
the answer is not difficult, if we consider that the slaves (enteros)
entirely so, are obliged to allege some great reason to compel their masters
to sell them. And what difference can there be between one and the
other, when we see that the yoke of slavery on all is the same ? If
the slaves (coartados) do not enjoy the rights of freemen, on what
principle can they claim the right of changing masters at their plea-
sure? Is it for some light correction ? This is not sufficient to enahle
them to use this privilege. And, then, eould the masters exercise their
authority with the due severity which is necessary? By no means:
and hence we have seen that the real audiencia has always repelled
similar demands, in all the suits that have heen promoted on this point
and brought for their superior decision. But some persons desire
notwithstanding, founding their opinion on the royal cedula of the 8th
April, 1779,* that slaves (coartados) should be left in possession of the
privilege in question. In answer to this, let us refer to the terms of
the cedula. We declare, it says, that the masters of slaves (not coar-

* In this cedula the precise duties of the syndic are laid dovn.

227
tados) have the liberty to sell them for whatsoever price they- agree on
with the buyers aecording to their actual worth; that when masters, for
just reasons, are obliged by the judicial authority to sell their slaves
(those so entirely) it shall be for the price at which they shall be
valued by those authorities ; but if the buyer wishes to take the slave
without valuation, agreeing thereon with the master, they can arrange
between them the price, and the authorities have no power to prevent
it, although the master is eompelled to sell, except that in order to
diminish the amount of the alcabala duty (or tax on the sale of pro-
perty) some collusion between the parties be suspected; further, that
slaves who are ' coartado,' or have paid that portion remaining of it,
the same obligation being binding on the buyer, that in all cases the
seller shall pay the alcabala tax according to the price paid; further,
that if the slave ' coartado' by bad conduet give a reasonable motive'
for selling him, however slight his crime, the addition to it be made of
the alcabala tax on his sale ; and, finally, that no slaves of any kind,
entire or coartados, who redeem themselves by their lawful earnings,
ought to pay this tax. The masters shall be obliged, conformable to'
the custom, to give them their, liberty the moment they bring the due
price for it."

Now to any ordinary capacity, the plain meaning of the terms of
this beneficent law of 1779, is, that slaves have the power of demanding
to be sold to another master, if another master- can be procured to pay
the price fixed on by the judges to the actual owner. In fact, the slave
by this means puts himself in the position of coartado, one who has
the right to demand his freedom whenever a price has been agreed on,
or fixed by judicial valuation ; and having procured a person to advance
the money, he is content to have his liberty sold again, in consi-
deration of the change of masters. But. mark the chicanery by which
every practical utility of this benevolent law is frittered away by the
interpretation of the judicial authorities of Cuba. The slave who
would change owners is first called on to produee a reasonable cause
for his applieation. He alleges severe punishment or harsh treat-
ment, who is to decide whether the slave has been maltreated or
not? The syndic. Who is the syndic ? A planter himself. And who
is the master? The neighbour of the syndic. But what says the
real audiencia exposition of the law for the regulation of the practice
of these syndies ? Why, that the due severity of the discipline of the
Q 2

proprietary power towards the slaves, is not a sufficient cause for a
slave's application to be sold; and that the only sufficient causes are
insufficient nourishment, scarcity of clothing, and dearth of instruction
in the Christian religion. Now what does the last obligation on the
planters amount to in Cuba ? to the christening of the slave, and to
the burial of him with the ordinary rights of the church. This is the
whole amount in Cuba of religious instruction, save and except the
teaching the newly-imported pagans to repeat, like parrots on cer-
tain feasts, the Lord's Prayer, the confiteor, and the decades of the
rosary; but as for having the slightest conception of the meaning of the
words they repeat by rote, it would be a folly to expect it, for they are
never instructed in religion by priest or layman, except cm the estate of
(some rare phenomenon in Cuba) a pious planter, a scrupuloiis master,
and a Christian man.

• As to fte complaint of insufficiency of food, the syndic of course
acts on the general opinion, that it is the interest of an owner to feed
his slaves well, and to clothe them also, for the sate of the preserva-
tion of their health and strength, This sounds well, and it passes for
the truth with thousands of people, not only in Cuba but in England.
This is an argument stated and re-stated hundreds of times, in answer
to the ordinary charge of ill-treatment brought against slave-owners,
namely, that it is the interest of a man to give good treatment to the
beast (and "pari passu," -to the slave) he keeps for use, or sale, or hire.
No doubt it is his duty, but is it his interest, according to his ideas, to
do this? Is it the supposed interest of the owners of our own miser-
able hacks, to treat the animal thus which he lets on hire or rides on
daily, or rather, can you persuade the great body of horse-dealers it is
their 'interest to do this? Unquestionably you cannot. They act on
the principle that a quick return of the money outlaid on horse-flesh,
no matter how great the wear and tear of the property that is worked
or hired, is better than moderate work with small gain, and a longer
use of the means from which that return is derived. Why, we might
as well go to Connemara, or the shores of Leuce, and talk to Mr.
Richabd B Mabtin's venerable ghost of the humanity of the treatment of
the hackney-coach horse-owners in England, on the ground of their
interests. That honest ghost, if ghosts in Ireland do speak, as they are
said to do, would tell you that these persons deny it is their interest to
spare their horses, and admit it is their interest to get the greatest

■BHHHBMHM1

possible quantity of work in the shortest space of time from their hacks,
and when they arc worked off their legs, to purchase new ones. In fact,
it is on this very principle the fast mail coaches are horsed and run.

But I have heard it said, however they may work them, it surely is
their interest to feed them well. To this I answer, the universal feeling
of the tribe is this, their true interest is to keep them cheaply. True
it is, if they gave them treble the quantity of good hard provender,
they would last, perhaps, double the length of time, and do half as
much more work ; but you cannot persuade these men you understand
their interests better than they do; you may, indeed, easily persuade the
owner of a stud of race-horses of the soundness of your opinion, but
the high-blooded racers that belong, in England, to gentlemen on the
turf, in proportion to the hacks and stage horses, are about in the same
ratio, as the slaves in Cuba, belonging to intelligent, considerate, humane
proprietors, are to the wretched negroes in the hands of unthinking,
unprincipled, and grasping owners. But what says the Creole ex-
pounder of the Spanish law on the subject of the most important
privilege conferred on the slaves. " We believe," he says, " that a
slave not having undergone bad treatment on the part of his owner,
having administered to him, food, clothing, and religious instruction,
he cannot compel his master to sell him to another." So much for the
benefit of the parchment privileges of the slaves in Cuba.

And now for their moral condition, and the administration of the
laws affecting it, on the high authority of the work, published with
the sanction, and at the expense of the real audiencia of Cuba. " As
amongst the Romans," says the author, " there could be no marriage
solemnized except among citizens, the union of the slaves was accom-
plished by concubinage, and the children followed the condition of the
mother ; our district law has adopted the same system (nuestra ley de
partida ha adoptad,o la misma disposicion) and when recently coartacion
was established, the question was discussed ; if the infant of a slave
coartado should enjoy the same privilege as the mother, but the doubt has
ceased, since the publication of the royal cedula of the 10th of February,
1789, in which we find the point in question definitely settled."

There can be no doubt of the express meaning of the royal law on
this subject being what it is described, and there is unfortunately, no
doubt that the slaves of Cuba have none of the rights of citizens, that
they arc not suffered to marry, and that a general system of concu-.

binage is that which the Christian law of the partida sanctions in Cuba ?
and to which it condemns nearly half-a-million of human heings.
Here I take leave of the Cuban exposition of the Spanish laws for the
amelioration of slavery. No one can dispute the authority of the
treatise I have referred to, for the express sanction of the real audieneia
is prefixed to it. It is .with no little difficulty I procured a copy of
that work, for I ham already stated it is not allowed to fall into the
hands of strangers.

I now proceed to show the extraordinary delusion which has been
practised, not only on foreigners who have visited the Spanish colonies,
hut even sought to he practised on our government, and on the agents
of it. It is no wonder, indeed, if the world has heen imposed on by
the specious benevolence of the Spanish laws, that have never been
earned into execution, or are capahle of enforcement in any country
where slavery exists, and where the interests arising from it are pros-
perous. And, if the only result of the years of turmoil and painful
inquiry I have passed through in the West Indies, were productive of
no other advantage than the experience which enables me to address
these ohservations to you, I would fain hope that I have made the best
use of my time, and the opportunities afforded me by my position, that
it was possible for me to make, in enabling me to disabuse the minds
of men, of an opinion so erroneously entertained, that slavery in the
Spanish colonies is mild in its character, and that the fact of its lenity
is to be established by the laws and ordinances of the Sovereigns
of Spain. But on this suhject I must briefly refer to another source
of information.

In the year 1824, Mr. Secret aby Canning addressed a despatch to
the Chief Commissioner at the Havana, desiring to be furnished with
information on the suhject of the manumission of slaves in the Spanish
colonies, and enclosing a memorandum which had been presented to our
government, at that period, when the question of gradual emancipation
in our colonics was forcing itself on the attention of ministers. The
document enclosed is in the following terms :—

" That slaves, (namely, those in the Spanish colonies) are generally
appraised at four hundred dollars ; that a slave paying down the fourth
part of his value, or one hundred dollars, immediately acquires a right
to be coartado, that is, that he can work out, paying his master three
reals de vellon or bits a day, until he can make a further deposit; or,

231

if the master require his service, he can oblige the man to work for
him, paying the slave one real : thus a deposit of two hundred dollars
gives the slave a right to two reals daily ; of three hundred, three reals,
and thus till the completion of the payment of the whole sum in which
he had been appraised." A dollar is worth eight reals or bits. — (Vide
Slave-Trade Reports, 1824-25, Class A. page 63).

In the first place, the common error with respect to the meaning of
the term of coartacion, which I have already referred to, is pointed out
in the reference made to the question of paying down one-fourth part
of the value of the slave. The next error is in the statement, that a
slave coartado has the right to work out, or to leave his master's service,
paying him wages in a certain proportion to the sum still due for his
liberty, the law treatise I have so largely quoted explicitly denying that
the slave has any such right 'against the consent of his master. The
next error is, that there is any law which compels the master to pay
wages in any proportion to whatever sum the slave may have paid in
part liquidation of the price of freedom.

The Chief Commissioner replied to Mr. Canning's inquiry, October
9, 1824, stating, that he had consulted the most able lawyers and
government authorities on the subject of manumission, and encloses a
memorandum, a most valuable paper, though by no meaus to be consi-
dered as practically applicable to the attainable privileges of prjedial
slaves, and that distinction is not sufficiently drawn in the document,
but only slightly, and very slightly, alluded to at the end of the memo-
randum. Nevertheless, the extent and accuracy of information, which
it is so difficult to procure on this subject, is surprising to me ; and in
referring to it, I have only to entreat attention to this point, that the
information has reference to what the laws decree, and not to the prac-
tical working of them ; and when it refers to the latter, the experience
adduced is eutirely of their execution in towns and cities, and especially
at the' seat of government, the Havana.

Mr. Kilbbe, the Commissioner, informs Mr. Canning, that he has
been wrongly informed, that slaves are valued at any fixed price for
" coartacion ;" that he has known one sell for 1000 dollars, but that the
tribunals discountenance excessive valuation ; that the average valuation
of full-grown negroes on estates, is 500 dollars ; that house-slaves are
valued at six, and mechanics at still higher prices ; that the statement
is ineorrect in asserting, " if the master require the service of his coar-

iado slave, he can oblige the man to work, paying the slave a certain
sum," the fact being, that in. all cases, the master is entitled to the
service of his slave, whether coartado or not, without any remuneration
whatever. That the wages of a common field labourer is about four
reals a day, (there being eight reals " de plata," and twenty reals, " de
vellon," to the dollar, the writer of the memorandum previously
referred to, having confounded these), and, moreover, that the negro is
fed and clothed ; and that as mechanics earn from a dollar and a quarter
to three dollars a day, consequently, a coartado slave, who works out,
is able to pay his master the daily quota proportioned to his price, and
to lay by something towards the further attainment of his liberty.
That the regulations for ameliorating the condition of slaves arc founded
principally on custom which has acquired the force of law, many of
which are confirmed by royal decrees.

That when a slave applies to purchase his liberty, the master is not
allowed to fix an arbitrary price ; but if he and the slave cannot agree
upon it, two appraisers are named, one by the master, and another by
the syndic, on the part of the slave, and if they differ, the judge names
an umpire ; and in these cases, the slave is exempt from the payment of
the alcabala duty, which is six per cent, on the sale of slaves sold in
venta real or by public auction. That a master will be compelled to
sell a slave, if a purchaser is found to engage to emancipate the slave at
the end of any reasonable time ; that ill usage justifies an application
for change of masters ; that a slave once emancipated, cannot again be
reduced to slavery; that the master having once given an " escritura de
coartacion," binds himself never to demand more than a stipulated sum,
though it is less than the actual valne, it has no relation whatever to the
actual price originally paid for him ; that the coartado slave, when his
master allows him to work out on hire, is only bound to pay his master
one real a day for every hundred dollars in which he is coartado : thus
if his appraised price was four hundred dollars, and he had paid one hun-
dred towards his liberty, he would only have to pay three reals a day
to his master ; that a pregnant negress may emancipate her child even
when in the womb, at the fixed price of twenty-five dollars, and from
the time of its birth, till it be baptised, for fifty dollars ; that the system
respecting the manumission of slaves, although in the country parts
where there are few magistrates, there may be, and undoubtedly there
are, many abuses, yet in the Havana, and other large towns, and in

233

other populous districts, it is efficiently observed ; and lastly, on the
authority of this able statement of Mr. Kilbee, the slave- population of
the island of Cuba, in the year 1824, was 250,000 ; the free-people of
colour, 115,000 ; aud the whites, 290,000.

I have attempted to show you, that the system of manumission, and
the regulations in force for ameliorating the condition of the slave in the
Spanish' colonies, honourable as these are to the apparent intentions of
the Spanish government, are of little real benefit to the prsedial slaves,
that is, to the great body of the slave-population in these colonies.
There are exceptions ; there are instances, where slavery has not rendered
masters heedless of all laws human and divine, even where their
pecuniary interests arc concerned, but these are few on the estates.
There are instances, where the owners are persons of high rant, and
wealth, and standing in society — noblemen, like the Count Feknandina,
and a few others of his order, where the rights and privileges of the
slaves are in some degree respected. These meu, however, live not on
their properties, and it is only to their occasional visits, the slaves on
their properties have to loot for justice. It is, as I have said before, in
the large towns alone, and for the non-prgsdial slaves, that the privileges
in question can be said to he available, and where manumission can be
hoped for, the means acquired of obtaining it, and the opportunity
given of applying for it, and for the partial redress of any wrong
suffered by a slave. The murder of a slave by a white mau, in no case
whatever, is punished with death. During my residence in Cuba, some
of the most atrocious murders that I ever heard of, came to my own
immediate knowledge, the murders of slaves by their masters or
mayorals, and r.ot in any one instance was the murderer punished,
except by imprisonment, or the payment of costs of suit.

During General Tacon's administration of the government in the
part of the year 1837, in the village of Guauabacoa, a league from the
Havana, where I was then residing, the murder of a slave was per-
petrated by his master, a well-known lawyer of the Havana, whose
name I consider it my duty to make known, and as far as lies in
my power to expose it to the infamy of a notoriety, which it is not in
the power of the shackled press of Cuba to give, but which I have
reason to believe, the press of Spain will give to these disclosures ;
so that the reprobation of his countrymen will reach this gentleman,
whom the laws he outraged were unable to reach or punish. The name

234

of the murderer is Manchado, and he moves without reproaeh in the
goodly eireles of genteel soeiety at Havana: iu that soeiety where
the capitalist, who has aequired his riehes in the abominable slave-
trade, by the espeeial favour of his Sovereign, bears the title of
" Excellentissimo ,•" where the prosperous dealer in human flesh now
retired from the trade, is a noble of the land ; where the foreign mer-
chant, who still pursues the profitable traffic on the eoast, is the boon
companion of the eommercial magnates of the plaee ; and where the
agents of foreign governments themselves are hailed as the private pro-
teetors, and avowed well-wishers of the interests of the trade. The
murdered slave of the lawyer Manchado, was suspected of stealiug
some plated ornaments belonging to the harness of his master ; the mau
denied the charge ; the eustomary proeess in such matters, to extort a
confession from a suspected slave, was had recourse to. He was put
down and flogged in the preseuee of his master. The flogging, it
appeared by the sworn testimony of the witnesses who were present,
given before the Commandant of Guauabaeoa, a Colonel in the army,
a gentleman of the highest eharaeter, eommenced at three o'clock, it
ceased at six, the man having literally died under the lash ; a little
time before the man expired, he had strength enough left to cry out, he
would confess if they would flog no more. The master immediately
sent for the Commissary of Police to reeeive his confession ; this offieer
came, and stooping down to speak to the man, he found him motion-
less; he said, the man had fainted. The brutal master kieked the
lifeless body, saying, " the dog was in no faint, he was shamming."
The Commissary stooped down again, examined the body, and replied,
" the man is dead." The master hereupon ealled in two physicians of
Guauabaeoa, and rightly eounting on the sympathies of liis professional
attendants, he obtained a medieal eertifieate, solemnly deelaring that
the negro had laboured under hernia, and had died of that disease. In
the mean time the atroeity had reaehed the ears of the Captatn-
General Tacon, the aleadis of Guauabaeoa were ordered to inquire
into the matter ; they did so, and the result of the inquiry was, of
eourse, the exeulpation of the murderer. General Tacon, dissatisfied
with the deeision, immediately ordered the military officer commanding
at Guauabaeoa to proeeed to a solemn investigation, de novo, without
referenee to the decision of the eivil authorities, and this gentleman,
with whom I was well acquainted, proeeeded with all the energy and

integrity belonging to Mm, to the inquiry. The result of this inquiry
was an able report, wherein the Commandant declared that the tes-
timony adduced, plainly proved that the negro had died under the
lash in presence of his master, in consequence of the severity of the
punishment he received during three hours. I have entered at large
into this case, because I speak from actual knowledge of the judicial
proceedings, and from the authority of the judge in the cause. Now,
what was the result in this case. Why, in due time, the Captain-
General communicates to the Commandant the law opinion of the
assessor or legal adviser of his administration, to the effect, that the
report was evidently erroneous ; inasmuch as the Commandant had
examined negro witnesses on the investigation, when their masters
were not present, which was illegal, and consequently all the proceed-
ings were vitiated. In plain English, the murderer was acquitted,
and the upright officer who declared him guilty was rebuked ; nay
more, he was ultimately removed from his post at Guauabacoa. The
folly of talking about illegality in the proceedings is evident, when it
is considered that the setting aside the civil authorities, and putting the
cause in the hands of the military tribunal, was a course obviously
illegal, but rendered necessary in the mind of the Governor by the base
corruption of the civil tribunal, and the iniquity of its decision. On
inquiry into the amount of money paid by Manchado in the way of
bribes to obtain the decision in his favour, and the cost of suit, I found
that the expenses amounted to 4000 dollars.

The next case I have to direct your attention to, has been given to
the world in the recent admirable work of Mr. Turnbull on Cuba, a
work which it required more honest and closer observation, and a higher
spirit of humanity to produce, than any work on the West Indies that
has been given to the public. I happened to be with Mr. Turnbull,
on the journey of which he speaks in reference to this case, when a
person who accompanied us on our return from a sugar estate, in the
vicinity of Guines, informed us that the estate in question was the
terror of all the negroes in the vicinity. Of this fact, what we had
ourselves witnessed of the management of the property, and what we
had heard from the mayoral himself, left but little cause to doubt ;
but it was not without surprise we learnt, that this very overseer, who
was still left in charge of the estate, had recently been brought before
the authorities of Guines, on the charge of flogging one of the slaves

of the estate to death, and. that the result of this investigation was
similar to that of the case at Guauahacoa. The body of the murdered
slave was examined by medical men, and the usual certificate was given
in all due form, satisfactorily accounting for the death of the negro,
and in the eye of the law of Cuba, the slave that was murdered by a
white man, and expired under the lash of legitimate authorit}', died a
natural death. The wretch who committed this act left the Court,
of course, without a blemish on his character; and the employer
of this man took him back into his service, to the terror of every
negro on his estate. This respectable planter was living at ease fifty
miles distant from the scene, where the blood of his murdered negro was
shed with impunity, enjoying the pleasures of the Havana, and,, per-
haps, by the urbanity of his manners, and the hospitality of his house,
and the indulgent treatment of his domestic slaves, convincing the
passing tourist, who was fortunate enough to be his guest, of " the
peculiar mildness of slavery in the Spanish colonies."

The next case — I know these horrors are painful to be listened to —
but it is a sickly sensibility which refuses to hear details, however
shocking to humanity, that must be told by those who have the
misfortune to be acquainted with them, or the wrongs they treat of
cannot be redressed. The next case of negro murder committed by a
mayoral, of which I have to speak, came to my knowledge in the
autumn of 1839. I was travelling in the vicinity of Matanzas, accom-
panied by a gentleman who resided in that district. I was informed
by my companion, that he had just received very unpleasant intelligence
of an acquaintance of his, a mayoral of an estate on the Pan of
Matanzas, who had unfortunately flogged a worthless negro, and the
worthless negro had unfortunately died, and the soldiers had just been
sent down to arrest the mayoral, and they did not find him.. The mis-
fortune of the mayoral touched me, indeed, less than the murder of the
slave ; but if my sympathies had been ever so strongly directed to the
inconvenience the mayoral had been put to by his flight, I might have
been comforted by the assurance that he had only to keep out of the
way for some time, and the thing would pass over ; or, if he were taken,
at the worst, he had only to suffer in purse, and, perhaps, in person, by
imprisonment for some time, if he was a poor and friendless mayoral.
This was only another vacancy in the negro gang to be filled up by the
purchase of a new bozal ; another life, taken away under the- lash, to be

237
added to the list of Cuban crimes ; another item in the long account
that slavery has to settle with a just God. I know it is painful to dwell
on these topics, but the report I have alluded to, has proved how
necessary it is to enter on them most fully ; and to show how greatly
people have been deceived with respect to the subject of slavery in the
Spanish colonies.

The last ease of murder perpetrated on a slave by a white person, to
which I will refer, took place at the Havana in the last year. This
crime was committed by an American woman on a poor negro girl,
under such horrible circumstances of cold-blooded cruelty, that I doubt
if there is any parallel to be found to it in the records of crime in Cuba.
The girl that was murdered belonged to a Spaniard of the Havana,
who was the paramour of the American. This woman was possessed of
property to a considerable amount. She had been long resident in
Havana, and was somewhat remarkable for her personal attractions.
Her friend, the Spaniard, had sent to her house one of his slaves to
assist her, and this girl became, it is supposed, the victim of her jealousy ;
for no other adequate reason has been assigned for the cruelties prac-
tised on her. The cries of the unfortunate girl had been heard in the
adjoining houses ; at length the usual screams were heard no longer,
but night after night the sounds of continued moaning were noticed by
the neighbours, and at length they gave information of the matter to
the police. The Commissary of Police proceeded to the house of the
American lady. On searching the outhouses in the yard, in one of
these offices, converted into a dungeon, they found a dying negro girl
chained by the middle to the wall, in a state that shocked the senses of
all who were present, so loathsome and withal so pitiful an object, as
the persons who discovered this unfortunate girl never beheld. On
releasing her from this dreadful dungeon, where she had been, she could
not tell how long, it was found that the chain round her body had eaten
into the flesh, and the ulcers in it were in a state of gangrene. She
was taken to the hospital, and she died there in two or three days' time.
If T have added one iota to the truth, or exaggerated a single point in
the statement I have given, I am content that every fact I have stated
should be disbelieved ; but in truth, the horrors of the place, and the
wretchedness of the condition in which she was found, arc understated ;
in fact, they could not be described. The monster who committed this
murder, when I left the Havana, in October last, was alive and well ;

238

in prison indeed, but in one of the halls of distinction, (salas de distine-
tion), where the prisoner who has money, no matter what his crime,
may always obtain superior accommodation. She was visited frequently
by persons of my acquaintance. She did not admit that she had com-
mitted any crime ; and she had no fear for the result of the process that
was going on, except on the score of its expense. She looked on her
imprisonment as a conspiracy only of the Spanish lawyers to get money
from her, because they knew she was rich ; and in this she probably
was not mueh mistaken. The Tenibnte Gobebnabdob, one of the
principal officers of state, was in the habit of visiting her in prison, and
encouraging her with the assurance that her suit would speedily be
terminated, and that she had nothing worse than banishment to fear.
A lawyer of the name of Garcia had defended her some short time
before her committal on the present charge, in another case of cruelty
practised by her on a slave ; and he publicly boasted that if she had
come forward in the present case with a sufficient sum, he would have
brought her through her present difficulty without, any more inconve-
nience than in the former instance. Such is the administration of
justice in the island of Cuba, and the execution of those laws which
are thought so mild in their character, and benevolent in their principles,
that the slave who lives under them is protected from injustice, and in
consequence of their excellence the negroes in Spanish colonies are
comparatively happy.

It was said by the late Mr. Canning, that all laws for the partial
amelioration of the condition of slaves were necessarily defective,
because such laws had no executive principle, inasmuch as the persons
who were expected to carry them into operation were interested in
defeating them. My experience entirely bears out the assertion of Mr.
Canning ; and both, I am sorry to say, are at variance with that part
of the report to which I have referred, and with the common opinion
of the humanity of the system of Spanish slavery, entertained even by
well informed persons in this country.

In concluding this subject, I would earnestly desire to impress
these facts on the minds of all who are interested in the question of
negro emancipation ; that the abolition of slavery in our colonies, has
given great advantages to those colonies where slavery exists. And
that it* is in vain to expect a beneficial result from our efforts, while
slavery flourishes in Cuba and the Brazils, and leans on the sympathy

connected with a
allude to it. When I was last in New
ers, built at Baltimore, which had been
r ere owned by American subjects, and
fraudulent purpose of changing their
The captor is in this

and support of countries like America and the colonies of France, whose
interests are identified with theirs.

Dr. Madden closed by saying

Before I resume my seat, the presence of a gentler
deeply interesting event induces me t>
York, I found there two American sis
captured by a British cruizer. They
had been sent to the Havana for th
papers and giving the

room, and I think it desirable that he should so fix the fact
to put it out of their power to deny it. He is the first man \
to go out of the routine of duty, seize vessels hoisting the American flag,
and cany them into an American port. I thiuk he should receive some marks
of your approbation.

Lieutenant FITZGERALD, R.N. (late Commander of H.M.B. Buzzards-
Very little remains for me to state on this subject ; but with the permission
of the Convention, I will briefly state the circumstances which led to the
detention of these American vessels. In January last, I arrived off a port
of the African coast in the ship I commanded, about two o'clock in the
morning. I sent my boats to board all the vessels lying in the roads, and
among others was the American brig Eagle. The officer perceived that
everythiug counected with the equipment was so suspicious, that he remained
on board the vessel for the night. I went on board the following morning,
and although confideut that she was intended for a slave cargo, yet knowing
the tenacity of the American government on the right of search by
British cruizers, I forebore for the time detaining the vessel. Another
officer seeing the- vessel seized her, and sent her to Sierra Leoue, but the
Mixed Court refused to condemn her, the Captain persistiug that she
was a i-egular trader. The officer still refused to give her up, and came to
me, being the first senior officer he had met at Fernando Po. I then stated
my determination to send the vessel to New York, where the subject would
be investigated, and the Captain, if guilty, would in all probability be hung. I
went on board, and stated that I should send an increased force to convey
her to America. The Captain then said that it was in vain to hold out longer ;
that she was a Spanish vessel ; that he was an American ; and that he had
hoped to preveut her detention by British cruizers, by displaying the Ameri-
can flag. I immediately put an officer of my own ou board. I knew that there
was a similar vessel in the Niger, and going there, I sent out my boats.
She was armed with six-pounders, loaded up to the muzzle. I declared that
if one Englishman was hurt, not a Spaniard should be left to tell the story.
Fortunately the Spaniards were in a state of debility from fever, and the
mate was absent, otherwise they would in all probability have fired upon the
boats, and then every one of them would have beeu killed. We took pos-
session of the vessel, and the American Captain threatened to complain to
his government, alleging that the capture of the vessel would lead to a war
between the two countries. I adhered to my purpose, aud when the Captain
came on board he nearly fainted. He then surrendered the vessel, and added,
that a week later there would have beeu 350 slaves on board. She was a
ninety tons vessel, but measured only thirty-eight tons British. Between
decks, as measured by myself, the distauce allowed for 350 individuals was

240

but two feet six inches. In corroboration of the horrors attendant on this
traffic, I may state, that this very American Captain told me, that on a pre-
vious voyage eight or ten of the negroes were so dehilitated when hrought
down to the ship, that the Spanish supercargo saw that there was no proba-
bility of their reaching their destination, and they were shot at the barra-
coon like so many mad dogs. On taking these vessels to New York, I must
state in justice to the authorities, that on making an affidavit before the
Attorney-General, a warrant was issued for the arrest of the American Cap-
tains, but one of them was so ill that he died in sixteen hours, the other was
committed to prison ; but in a few days he found the necessary hail and was
liberated. I was detained from three to four mouths, the usual period occu-
pied in the process of the law ; and when the time for the trial arrived, the
Attorney-General iuformed me, that the Captain had requested a post-
ponement of his trial, in consequence of the death of his mother, and it
had been granted him. The only observation I made was, that American
courts were much more obliging to prisoners, than English courts. I could
not remain longer, and my evidence was taken on commission. What has
been the result I caunot say. There are noble-hearted aholitioniste in Ame-
rica from whom I received every kindness ; hut of course the very reverse
from slave-traders. One threateued to commence proceedings against me
which occasioned me some anxiety, uot knowing what might he the result ;
hut I am happy to say, that within the last three weeks the Admiralty have
sent out orders to defend me. I must also do justice, to the chief magistrate
of America by stating, that when I pointed out to him the abuses which

honour for the

[ such iuhuman

two governments

iffic ; and that an

occurrence which

British o:

took place under the American flag, that I had

time being, and that I would never allow it to 1

traffic, he expressed his obligations to me, adding that

could have hut one feeling, that of detestation of such

American man-of-war would have been sent out, hut for

had taken place. Two have since been sent, and some

surrendered vessels to them, hefore I left, which I was compelled t<

consequence of ill health.

Mr. JOSEPH STURGE.— I wish to he allowed to state that our excellent
friend Dr. Madden, who has introduced this very valuable document to the
Convention, has, during the last three years held the office of protector of libe-
rated Africans at the Havana, and has the prospect of speedily resuming his
post. Yet he has uohly come forward and stated these facts hefore the
British public. There cannot be a stronger proof of his devoteduess to our
cause. I wish also briefly to allude to the statemeut made by our friend who
has just resumed his seat, and who has given us some very interesting infor-
mation. While we feci charity for the views of those who differ from us, it
must be recollected that this Convention is based upon the principle, that we
are confined to moral, religious, and pacific means in carrying out our object ;
and the word " pacific," prohibits us from either directly or indirectly sanc-
tioning a resort to arms even against the slave-trader while he holds his
victim in his hands. I wish to state this strongly and distinctly, while at
the same time entertaining the greatest respect for those who differ from me
in opinion ; especially when gentlemen endeavour to discharge their appre-
hended duty in the noble way in which our friend has done ; and I hope
he will not consider that I treat him with disrespect, when I state that, as a
Convention, we are bound to the pacific principle.

Bev. JOHN KENNEDY, (of Aberdeen).— Sir, I have been desired to move-
That Dr. Madden be requested to place Ms statement in the hands
of a Committee, for its translation into the Spanish language, in order
to promote its circulation.

The Convention has been deeply interested iu the statements we have just
heard. In listening to these statements, I have no doubt that many minds
reverted, as my own did, to the circumstances in which the anti-slavery com-
munity was placed a few years ago, when our much esteemed aud highly
honoured friend, Mr. Joseph Sturge, and his noble eoadjutors laid bare the
atroeitics of the apprenticeship in the West Indies, Dr. Madden is pioneering
the way for the ultimate abolition of slavery in the Spanish Colonies, just as
Mr. Sturge aud others did for the abolition of the apprenticeship in our
West India islands. Our friends had in this country, it is true, a very dif-
ferent substratum of feeling and principle, on which to work, from that whieh
Dr. Madden will have to work upon in Spain. While we would say nothing
offensive to Spanish feeling, and make no comparison that could be eonsidered
out of order, even in a meeting which is not British, but universal, we eannot
hide this fact from ourselves. Still there remains in human nature, without
national distinctions, fallen and degraded as it is, so many fragments of the
principle of right and wrong, that the statement we have heard eannot be
read without a blush of shame, even by the perpetrators of the cruelties-
detailed. I have little doubt that that statement going out with the
imprimatur and moral influence of this assembly, and made public in the
metropolis of the British empire, will eause those who live in honour and
respect in Cuba, to feel themselves dishonoured and disgraced iu every part
of the civilized world. I do entertain very sanguine expectations that great
beuefit will result from the publication of the doeument before us, in the
Spanish language. It will likewise re-assure the anti-slavery eommunity in
this country, that slavery is essentially the same in every part of the globe:
It will teaeh them, that, bolster up the system as you may, aseribe to it all the
false charms which can be thrown around it, slavery is still slavery, oppression
is still oppression, degradation is still degradation, all the world over. If wc
required anything like argument to urge us to the adoption of a sentiment
whieh was well put in the able and logical Essay of Mr. Godwin, namely,
that the way to treat slavery is not to mitigate, but to aunihilate it, that
argument has been furnished this day. We have found, that while humanity
ean write its dictates of mercy on paper and parchment, the spirit of wanton
oppression can infliet wounds and cruelties, almost unheard of, on the very
objects of its solicitude and care. We have fouud, that while meu living at
least on the borders of civilization, have felt themselves constrained to send
across the Atlantic, something like right principles and right laws -. these
principles and laws have been utterly inoperative and useless, just beeausc
there were no bosoms to entertain them, and no hands to work them out.
This only corresponds with all our previous experience. Bight laws have no
power of their own ; and where there is no exeeutive principle, where the
whole feeling of society is opposed to them, and there is uo external power to
enforce them, they ean never be any thing else tha'u a dead letter. I have
much pleasure in submitting this motion to the meeting.
WILLIAM FOBSTEB,, Esq., (of Norwieh), seconded the motion.

THOMAS FOWELL BUXTON, Esq.— I certainly, from my long know-
ledge of Dr. Madden, and the great respect which I entertain for that gentle-
man, should immediately have risen to second the resolution which has just
been proposed, if I had not understood that he, in my absence, had expressed
some difference of opinion with me as to the extent of the slave-trade in
Cuba, and that the same had been done by Mr. Tuiurarat. I am not prepared
to state my own views on the subject ; the calculation rests on documentary
evidence, and not being aware that the slave-trade would be this day intro-
duced, I did not bring those documents to the meeting. I shall, however, take
an early opportunity of laying my views before the public* I say no more
with regard to the statements which have been put forth by these most
respectable o-entlemen ; with one of whom, I am proud to say, that for many,
many years, I have most cordially acted, I mean Dr. Madden. I am sure
that every thing he states he conscientiously believes ; and I have no reason
to doubt that the same maybe said of Mr. Tuhsbuli,. At the same time
Dr. Madden's opinions, Mr. Trnimnu's opinions, and my own, mnst all be
tested by the evidence of facts. I will adduce the very facts which are
stated by Mr. Tuhnbull, and give yon an arithmetical demonstration
that I am right. I had great doubts and hesitation as to whether I
should make my views known ; I think we all ought to be engaged in attack-
ing the common foe, and I, therefore, felt reluctant that the common friends
of the cause should occupy any portion of their time and zeal in disputing
among each other. I approved of Mr. Tuunbcll's work generally, though
I regretted some observations in it. I was disposed to let the matter drop,
but placed as it is before this meeting, I have no alternative but to give, m
the most friendly spirit, the facts and calculations on which my statement
rests. I have already declared, that I was not aware the subject of the
slave-trade was to be discussed to-day. I ought, perhaps, to be ashamed that
I was not cognizant of this fact. Had I regularly attended the meetings of
the Couvention, it would have been notorious to me ; but I hope no one will
suppose that my absence has been occasioned by any indifference to the
objects you have in view. If I had had the command of my own time, there
is no employment which would have been more gratifying to me, thau to feast
upon that mass of instruction and information which has been brought before
you. Gentlemen, however, are aware that I am embarked in another institu-
tion, the Society for the Extinction of the Slave-trade and the Civilization of
Africa, the weight of which rests principally upon myself. It has now
arrived at a critical period of its history ; and the whole of my mind, my
time, and my zeal, are absorbed iu it. But I was anxious to be present
to-day, that I might have an opportunity of offering, I will not say an apo-
logy, but an explanation. I wished to see, not only the assembly itself,
but those brave and good men from America who have periled their lives
again and again in this cause. I had my humble share of obloquy in
former days, when the subject was not so rife as it is at present. I know
a little, but very little, compared with them, of the contempt and deri-
sion which attend an honest declaration of adherence to the rights of
man. But I have felt the greatest esteem and veueration for those

* This intention was carried into execution in a letter from Mr., now Sir
Thomas Fowell Buxton to Mr. Tubnbuli., inserted in the abridgment of the
former gentleman's book on the African Slave-trade audits Kemedy, page 62.

who have stood ont in America, in the face of their own countrymen, and
denounced this atrocious and cruel system. I know something of the great
and heavy sacrifices which it must have cost them in order to do so. I
wished also to come here and express a hope, that no one would so misunder-
stand me, as to suppose that I shared in the slightest degree, in that narrow
and mean jealousy which would describe our Society, and that here assem-
bled as rivals and antagonists. Rivals and antagonists they are not, they are
sister institutions, they walk in a different road, they use different means, but
their object is one and the same. I have not the absurd and blind vanity to
suppose, that my bosom harbours a deeper and more intense abhorrence of the
slave-trade, than that which is felt by every gentleman in this room. But
may I not take the liberty of saying, that I am an enemy to slavery, that
some portion of my existence has been given to its abolition ; and though I
see here men who have made great sacrifices, though I see many more able
advocates than ever I could be, I do hope I may say, without vanity, that I
see no one from whose breast gushes forth a deeper and more intense stream
of desire for the utter overthrow of slavery in every form and in every climate.
I repeat the two societies are not rivals ; your first blow is aimed at slavery, ours
at the slave-trade ; you wish to extinguish the demand, we desire to crush
the supply ; your operations are in one hemisphere, ours in another. There is
no possibility of interference ; on the contrary, success cannot attend the one
without its also attending the other. If God should be pleased to grant the
utmost measure of success to your noble efforts, and the demand should
greatly abate ; what is there which you can more earnestly and intensely
desire, than that the supply should also decrease ? Of all the horrible tragedies
which exist, and which are brought to light by the slave-trade, there is not
one so affecting to my mind as this, which now stands upon record, that slaves
have been collected in the interior of Africa with dreadful slaughter ; they
have been brought down to the coast under the harassing oppressions of a
march, and the mortality it occasions ; and then owing to some cause, some-
times the honest interference of British vessels capturing the ships which
were to convey them, they have been left to perish, and there are instances of
hundreds having been slaughtered by the knife of the ruffians to whom they
belong. I know men who have seen the victims wandering about the coast
picking up foetid fish which have been cast on the shore, and at last dying the
victims of famine. Stop the demand therefore, without, at the same time,
effecting a corresponding diminution in the supply, and these tragedies will
occur. On the other hand, supposing it should please God, in mercy to our
efforts, and hearing our- earnest prayers, to bless us with pre-eminent
success, that the supply should be reduced in Africa, and that the Africans
should learn that greater benefit is to be derived from labour, than from
the sale of the labourer ; then what can we desire more fervently than
this, that while there is a decrease of the supply, there should also be a
decrease of the demand? Unless this be the case, our efforts will merely
result m transferring the slave-trade from one quarter to another. The
slave-trader will go into another field, and carry famine and sword into new,
and as yet, undevastated districts, so that the effect will be to put the slave-
trade down in one spot, and cause it to burst out and rage in another. I say
therefore, that these two societies are detachments of the same great army •
I hope that they will unite together, and that it will please Providence, by
their efforts, to produce the overthrow of slavery and the slave-trade,

244

throughout the world. I can most truly say that it has been my endeavour-
to suppress any feeling of rivalry of this description, and to promote to the
best of my power the objects you have in view. I pray God to bless your
efforts ; I pray that his countenance may be lifted up upon you and upon our-
selves ; and I do pray that both societies may act in perfect harmony.

Mr. BIRNEY.— I trust I may be indulged in a few remarks. They have
no immediate connexion with the resolution before the Convention, but have
suggested themselves to me, in consequence of those which have already
fallen from the honourable gentleman, (Mr. Buxton) by whose address we
have all been so much gratified. I need scarcely say to this Convention, that
in the United States his name has been most houourably identified with the
abolition movement throughout the world. I rejoiced to hear him declare so
explicitly as he did this morning, that there is no conflict or rivalry between
the plan to which he has more especially devoted his efforts, and the one
which we have more immediately before us ; one which is similar in its object
and aim and measures with that with which the American delegates are more
especially connected. I rejoiced to hear him say, that although we are pur-
suing different routes, yet that we are moving on with the same object, and that
our aim is wholly identical. I doubt not that our friends on the other side of
the Atlantic will rejoice with me in this avowal. But I have a further object
iu view in thus rising to address you. It may be known to those who have
paid particular attention to the anti-slavery cause in America, that from its
commencement its greatest adversary has been, what is now known amongst
us, as the American Colonization Society. Without going into the facts in
support of this opinion, I may venture to say here, that it is decidedly more
hostile than any adversary with which we have to contend. I think I may
state further, without doing injustice to those concerned, that it is at this
time the embodiment of the pro-slavery and slave-holding interests ; and that
through it they are acting for the maintenance of slavery and its abominations.
I rise not only that full justice may be accorded to the gentleman who has
d us, but that he may have an opportunity of placing his opinions
with colonizatiou in so clear a light, that hereafter we may not be
embarrassed by seeing his name connected as it has been by the American
Colonization Society or Colonizers, with their unhappy scheme. From the
attention which I have already had an opportunity of bestowing on his work,
and from a conversation which I have had with him this morning, and with a
gentleman closely united with him in the civilization enterprise ; I learn with
satisfaction that there is no connexion intended between his scheme and the
one so deprecated by the friends of the coloured people in the United States.
Mr. BUXTON.— Certainly one does see great changes in this world, but
of all the changes which I ever expected to see accomplished, I never did
conceive it possible, that any oue could have supposed that I was a friend of
the American Colonization Society. In the first place, in my house was
written that letter which was signed, first by Wilbehfobce, then by C l arkson,
I believe then by Zachauy Macauiay, than whom Africa has had no more
sincere, no more laborious, no more disinterested and effectual friend, and
then by others, calling upon our friends in England not to assist in that cause,
seeing its defects so far as American slavery was concerned. Again, I am
not aware that I have published one single word which can be miscon-
strued into an approbation of that scheme. I held at that moment, and ever
have held, that, so far as the negro in America was concerned, it was a fatal

245

delusion. I will not enter into motives, I will not accuse any man who may
have honestly engaged in that scheme, but it is plainly an erroneous scheme,
calculated to produce the very worst effects on the interests of the black
population in America. Moreover, in consequence of its having been repre-
sented to me that much misuse of my name and influence had been made
in America, I addressed a letter to a friend of mine in this room, declaring
that there was no change in my opinions on the subject, and that I still hold
the doctrines I have ever held with regard to the Colonization Society,
as far as its operation extends within the United States. I have a letter
from Mr. George Thompson, in which he declares that my sentiments 'were
all he could wish, and would produce the very best effects. But while I say
this, I wish to be candid. Wc made a distinction when it first began, as to
the effect of the Colonization Society upon the negro in America, and to him
wc cousidered, that it would be most injurious, not to say fatal, and as to the
effect it was likely to produce iu Africa, where we felt that it would be difficult
to trace out what its results would be. I have found some statements in
the writings of one gentleman belonging to it, in which I fully concur, and
I should feel ashamed, if in this assembly I did not avow it ; I allude to what
he states as to the capability of Africa to be cultivated, and the disposition of
the people to labour. There is much in the reports from Liberia, which has
deeply interested me ; and, generally, I can hardly go so far as to say univer-
sally, I have approved and rejoiced in the operations of the Colonization
Society, as far as Africa is concerned; there, if I am to believe their accounts,
they have abolished all distinctions of colour ; there they have abolished
slavery ; there they have allowed the energies of the black man to have full
scope ; and there, therefore, they merit our approbation. But disposed as I
am to do justice to one part of their scheme, I will not shrink from declaring,
that from the beginning of the Society up to the present day, I have been and
am an utter enemy to the Colonization Society, so far as its effect upon the
coloured population of the United States is concerned.

Mr. BIBNEY. — I have no doubt that the expression of opinion just given
will be productive of the most salutary effects iu America.

Lieut. FITZGEBALD.— I feel that I am incurring great hazard in
presuming to differ from the two last gentlemen who have spoken, with regard
to Liberia. Having visited the colony last February, I have formed au opinion
regarding it, and not without some right to do so. At j>resent the colony
extends a distance of 250 miles along the coast, and from all I could see and
learn, I solemnly believe that neither Cuba nor any other country can obtain
a supply of slaves from thence. I cannot say what may be the influence of
the colony on American slavery ; but I have no hesitation in declaring my firm
persuasion, that if we had free colonies at the mouth of every African river,
Spanish vessels could not he there for three or four months, watcliing their
opportunity to escape with a cargo of slaves. Governor Buchanan insisted
upon the barracoons, or the pens in which the slaves a re kept until they are
put ou board the vessels, being destroyed ; and there is not a chief within the
district who would think of erectiug one.

Mr. SCOBLE. — I wish to ask Lieut. Fitzgerald : — First, whether slavers
have not been captured at Liberia? Secoudly, whether slave-traders cannot
at all times be supplied there with shackles or other materials which they
require for the purpose of carrying on their nefarious traffic on the western
coast of Africa ? Thirdly, whether De Sotjza has not a house at Liberia

246

where he can draw any amount of money he pleases, in order to cany on his
operations on that part of the coast over which he has jurisdiction ?

Lient. FITZGERALD— I never heard of a slave ship being captured at
Liberia, hut it is not improbable, that when the colony was first established,
and was therefore in a state of weakness, a Spanish vessel with a crew of
fifty or sixty men, might obtain a cargo, in spite of every effort which conld
be made to prevent it. But I believe that now a vessel might as well proceed
to Sierra Leone as to Liberia, for that purpose. With regard to De Souza, I
never heard by report, or otherwise, that he has an establishment at Liberia ;
nor did I ever hear that shackles conld be procured there. I again repeat my
firm conviction, that there is not a single slave exported there, nnless it is
done in the most rapid manner. At the present moment, there is such a
system adopted that it is scarcely possible, in all instances, to avoid it. I
know a case, in which a slaver within four hours got 450 slaves on board ; she
never anchored, but sailed immediately for Cuba. In such a case, the
Governor of Liberia conld do nothing. But as for a vessel lying three months
in the river, with her cargo on board, watching the British cruisers, no such
thing can take place ou the coast of Liberia. I was once out in a river four
days with my boats, having received information that there were two slavers
in the neighbourhood. I landed, and saw within the distance of half a mile
three barracoons. I was surrounded by. black men, among whom was the
King's brother, who spoke as good English as myself. I asked him, if he
conld give me any information about the slavers ; to which he replied "No,"
and if he could, he would not. I then inquired, if he was not ashamed of
being a slave-d ealer, to which he answered, " No ; I owe no allegiance to
Queen Victoria, and there is no law against it here." That river is not half
a mile wide, and if a colony were formed at its month, no slaver conld go in
or ont of it. That is the case with many other rivers which I have visited.
The river Bonny alone, in 1S3G, sent ont 30,000 slaves, in spite of all onr
cruisers. But during the last two years there has not been a slaver seen
there, and the palm oil trade is nourishing rapidly.

Mr. BUXTON.— Some misapprehension must have occurred in the mind of
Lieut. Fitzgerald as to what I stated. I said that so far as the Coloni-
zation Society operated on the negroes in America, I thonght it most iujurious.
I am not qualified, perhaps, to pronounce so positive an opinion with regard
to its effects in Africa. My information on this point, is derived from their
own publications, hut if I am to credit these, and I see no reason for distrusting
them, I am hound to acknowledge that there, I think, they have done good.

Lient. FITZGERALD.— To show the anxiety of Governor BucnANAN
to pnt an end to the slave-trade, I may state that a few weeks before I
reached Sierra Leone, he visited it, to ask for assistance to attack a strong
slave-holding position ; the small force at his control not being sufficient for
the purpose, and it was refused him.

Mr. BIRNEY.— I dislike as much as any gentleman to be tronble-
some, bnt from the testimony already before the meeting, given by Lieut.
Fitzgerald, I feel reluctant to leave the case in its present position.
On the two points which have been particularly adverted to, I have almost
accidentally some slight evidence in my hand. It will ocenpy a few minutes
only in reading. Before doing so, I wish to exempt the Colonization Society
at home, and the present as well as the former Governors of Liberia, from
any charge of being concerned in the slave-trade, or of wishing its con-

247

tinuance. They have been unable to restrain the colouists from giving aid
and countenance to the slavers. I equally believe, and I feel myself autho-
rised to assume, the respectability of the parties whose evidence is contained
iu this pamphlet. It is entitled, "The Colonization Scheme considered, &c,
in a letter addressed to the Hon. Theodore Frelinghu-yzen and the Hon.
Benjamin F. Butler," both American citizens of the first respectability
and influence, and both distinguished for their zeal in the colonization cause.
I will not detain the meeting by giviug all the testimony, but adduce a few
of the most prominent parts. Asiimtjn was among the first Governors of the
colony, a man decidedly of a very superior mind, and in writing to the board
of mauagei'sin America upon the subject, he says: —

" It is not known to every one how little difference can be per-
ceived in the measure of iutellect, possessed by an illiterate rustic from
the United States, and a sprightly native of the coast" — " the fact
certainly is, that the advantage is oftenest clearly on the side of
the latter." " An unlimited indulgence of appetite ; and the laboured
excitement, and unbounded gratification of lust, the most unbridled
and beastly, are ingredients of the African character. Such is the com-
mon character of all; and it operates with all the power of an ever-
present example on the colonists * * * from the moment of their
arrival in Africa. It must produce its effects. It has produced them,
and witbont a powerful, counteracting agency, it must, at no great
distance of time, as snrely leaven the whole mass, as human nature
shall continue what it is. Colonists thus suffer a double disadvantage ;
are subject to all that is contaminating in the character of the natives,
at the same time, that they have passed beyond the reach of the correc-
tive example of enlightened Christians."

In February, 1834, the Rev. Mr. Pinney, (the Governor), writing from
Monrovia, says :—

" The natives are perfect menials, I mean those in town, and sorry
am I to be obliged to say, that, from my limited observation, it is
evident, that as little effort is made by the colonists to elevate them,
as is usually made by the higher classes in the United States, [[the
whites], to elevate the lower [the coloured people]. Nothing has been
done for the natives, hitherto, by the colonists, except to educate a
few who were in their families in the capacity of servants."

The same geutleman in 1836, publicly stated : —

" The colony has existed now for fifteen years, and yet the 20,000
Africans around it, have uot materially altered any of their manners ;
they dress in the same negligent way [their only clothing being a pieco
of cloth around the loins], they dwell in the same poor huts; they
have the same mode of agriculture, as when we first came here."

248

The late Goveenoh Skinner, in 1837, says :—

" But few of the natives have been civilized. I have known but
five instances ; two of them are professors of religion."

On the other point, as to the slave-trade, it is stated here : —

" Since the settlement of the colony, Pedro Blanco, one of the
largest slave-traders in the world, has established himself at the mouth
of Gallinas river, between Monrovia and Sierra Leone, within fifty-
miles of the former, and about treble that distance from .the latter.
What Pedho Blanco's opinion is, (and doubtless, it is a very sound
one), as to the effect of the colonies on his business, the naked fact of
his establishing himself in their neighbourhood, sufficiently indicates."

In a letter from the Governor of Liberia, dated 8th January, 1836, it

" I have had constant difficulties with the natives, in eonsequenee of
the wars in which they are engaged, and the capture of persons to sell
as slaves, some of whom have been taken from our purchased territories.
Boats have been sent from Spanish slavers into the St. Paul's, and
slaves have been bought in that river."

Captain Nicholson, in a report to the Secretary of the Navy, says :—

"Within a year four slave factories have been established almost
within sight of the colony,' ' [Monrovia].

The British Parliament have lately published various documents relative to
the slave-trade, among them is an intercepted letter from the Captain of a
slaver to his owner in Cuba. The Captain writes, (28th September, 1838),
from Little Bassa, (Liberia), as follows : —

" To-morrow the schooner sails for New Sestos, (believed to be also in
Liberia), to take on board a cargo of slaves which I have ready there.
I have been obliged to have one hundred sets of shackles made at
Cape Messurado," (Monrovia).

Governor Buchanan, on the 10th of August, 1839, writes :—

" Before my arrival here, business of every kind in the colony had
become exceedingly dull, and the general impression was, that the
patrons in America were losing their interests in affairs here, and that
poor Liberia must go down. In this state of things, while our mechanics
could find no employment at home, the slavers offered them -plenty of
work, high wages, and good Spanish doubloons for pay. The temptation
was irresistible, and some whose necessities were too strong for their
principles, went among them j but I recalled all the wanderers as soon
as I came here."

I will detain the meeting with hut a single extract from the Liberia Herald,
for May, 1838 :—

" The first requisite to the advancement and prosperity of the colony,
is the suppression of the slave-trade in our vicinity. This trade has
been gradually acquiring strength for the last four years. Its ravages
have been more fearful, and the vessels engaged in it more numerous,
than at any former period of the colont's history. An exterminating
tear has raged over an extent of fifty miles abound us; nearly all
communication with the interior has been cut off; lands have
remained untilled, every article of food has advanced 200 per cent, in
price, and horror and confusion have raged on every side."

Mr. FULLER. — It is nothing more than justice that the meeting should
know who the last speaker is; he was once the authorised agent of the
American Colonization Society.

Rev. C. E. LESTER.— And the man who said, he never should have libe-
rated his -slaves so long as he held to his colonization principles.

Mr. PRICE. — I am desirous of offering a few observations with re-
ference to the subject of slavery in Cuba, and consequently on the slave-
trade as encouraged thereby. I have heard with deep interest the descrip-
tion which has been given to this meeting by Dr. Madden. I cannot but
believe, that its translation iuto the Spanish, as well as all other European
languages, will he of considerable service ; and I, therefore, very cheerfully
support the resolution which has been moved and seconded. As another
opportunity may not, perhaps, be afforded of offering some further remarks
upon it, I should regret losing the present occasion for giving a little infor-
mation which I happen to possess confirmatory of the statements made by
Br. Madden, with reference to slavery in Cuba. My residence being in that
part of South Wales in which copper is principally manufactured, it affords
me an opportunity of communicating with persons who have visited Cuba ;
captains of vessels and others, bringing home copper-ore from that island to
be smelted in my own vicinity ; and I have availed myself of these means
of obtaining some information on the snbject of slavery. I have also had
access to an individual who has resided there for a considerable time, and
who was sent out from this country, for the purpose of superintending the
work in one of these copper mines. I have also a personal acquaintance with
individuals engaged in those copper mines in Cuba ; and I will do them the
justice to say, that I am ready to believe they persuade themselves that
their mines are not worked by slaves. But from the mouth of an individual
who has been several years superintendent of one of these copper mines,
I have distinctly learned the contrary. ' I also learned from him, that the
proprietors resident in this city, and in other parts of Great Britain, do
intend to steer clear of the ownership of slaves, that they are themselves
not proprietors of slaves, bnt the practice which obtains there, is, to hire" them
from those who own them. I made a memorandum of the facts as he com-
municated them. The mine on which he was engaged is worked chiefly by
slaves. They are priucipally hired from planters, at the rate of about
• ilnll-iTK . in h |n>r month, equal to about «C25 per annum, as he was informed
by ohe of their overseers, besides their clothing and food. They are fed on

s, and are kept in good
jrs are, in directing a
at their work. Some
ly, he thinks about one
about forty negroes

250

fish, sweet potatoes, and Indian corn boiled up in a me
condition. He was employed as other Cornish min
number of them how to work, and keeping them oi
free natives are also employed at the mines ; not ms
in twenty ; they are not fond of much work. There \
brought up to the mines from a captured slaver while he t
believes they were slaves, being treated, and fed, and worked as such. He
does not know whether they were bought by the adventurers in the mine
or how. He has been shocked at the severe flogging ; he has seen a woman
undergo 200 lashes of a heavy long whip, which fetches blood every stroke.
She was afterwards earned into the negro house to take her course. He
knew a man slave who stole a pig, and ate part of it ; he was promised a
flogging for it ; he dreaded it so much, that he went out and hung himself up to
a tree aud died. He thinks no one would be found in Cuba to take an interest
in terminating slavery. They will not allow missionaries. The slaves are
eucouraged to work on Sundays, by a shilliug each for themselves to enable
them to make merry, and dance, &c. in the evening. Worship is wholly ne-
glected. I wish to avail myself of this opportunity of discouraging individuals
from participating in the copper-mines, while slavery and the slave-trade are
encouraged by them, as tending to perpetuate those monstrous evils ; while
10 dollars per month, or £25 per annum are paid for the service of one of
those slaves, and a guarantee, given by the owners of the mine, that in the
event of accident and death, the full price of that slave shall be paid,
there will necessarily be persons found ready to embark their capital in slaves
for the purpose of getting rapidly rich. I have been told, that even the
widow of a mining captain has been known to embark property iu slaves for
the purpose of derivinga revenue for her support. I have been further informed,
that even the captains of some of our vessels, have ventured to embark their
property in slaves worked in this manner. It is obvious, the employers of
slaves under these circumstances, are very directly encouraging, not only
slavery, but the slave-trade. I earnestly desire that every one who hears
me, or reads this statement, should wash his hands clear of this crime.
Let them employ persons who are entirely free. If they would give to free
men the same remuneration which is given to slave-owners and their slaves
in food and clothing, how rapidly would they contribute to raise up a
free set of miners, who would become a valuable body of men, and thus
exhibit a light in Cuba which would contribute ultimately to promote the
abolition of slavery and the slave-trade throughout the island ! Our hopes,
do not rest on the employment of force, but on strictly religious and
moral means for promoting the extirpation of slavery, and therewith the
entire abolition of the slave-trade. I am persuaded, that auy of our friends
who delude themselves with the idea, that they can destroy the slave-trade
without destroying slavery, will fiud that they are utterly mistakeu. While
persons can get rich by carrying on the trade, I am persuaded that it will be
carried on ; and, therefore, the only effectual way is to lay the axe to the root
of the evil tree, to cut it down ; I am very fearful that the effect of their
labour may be exceedingly prejudicial, inasmuch as it contributes to raise
the character of these individuals, it makes them so much more valuable
for transportation across the Atlantic. In my apprehension, the first object
to which we should turn our attention, and to which we should steadily
direct it, is the abolition of slavery by strictly religious and moral means. I

251

rejoice, therefore, in the document put forth by Dr. Madden, and which is
about to be translated into the Spauish and other laugnages. I hope there
will be a strong persuasion cherished, not only in this assembly, but through-
out Great Britain, that slavery must fall sooner or later, and that we can
look with confidence for the blessing of Almighty Providence upon those
measures which we adopt, knowing that they are in strict accordance with
his Divine will.

JOHN STURGE, Esq., (of Birmiugham).— I have risen, with the permission
of the Chairman, to ask Dr. Madden a few questions with reference to the
subject brought before us in his paper. I wish to ascertain the state of the free
black population of Cuba ; their amount, their condition, and the share which
they take in raising the productions of that island. The accounts we have
hitherto had of Cuba aud the Brazils, have seemed to preseut au anomaly in
the history of slavery, by asserting the existence of a state of society quite in-
consistent with our geueral principles. We are told by Admiral Fleming, in
his evidence before the House of Commons, that in Cuba, free-labour and slave-
labour were going on pari passu ; that slaves and freemen were seen working in
the same field ; and this was coupled with a statement of the exceediug leuity
with which slaves are treated in Cuba. We were led to believe that the two
systems were perfectly compatible with each other, under the same circumstances;
that, iu fact, they were going on together, aud were about equally profitable.
Admiral Fleming goes on to state, that it was a matter of indifference to the
planter whether he imported slaves, or employed free blacks ; that he had, in
uumerous instances, secu both engaged in the production of sugar, &c. I need
not point out how utterly incousisteut this is with the encouragement giveu
by Cuba to the slave-trade, and the fearfi ; I , hi man life which there
takes place. I heard with great interest the statements of Dr. Madden,
because they reconciled the state of things in that island with our principles,
and showed that slavery was there, as elsewhere, a destructive and atrocious
system in every respect. I hope that, if possible, some further light will be
tkrowuupoii fls subject, in order that wc may draw some inferences ou the
economical as well as the moral bearings of the questiou.

The Convention then adjourned.

FIFTH DAY'S SITTINGS, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17, 1840.

(AFTERNOON).

W. T. BLAIR, Esq., in the Chair.

Mr. TURNBULL.— It was suggested by the paper read by my friend, Dr.
Madden, that I had conceived a plan for the suppression of the African slave-
trade. I am unwilling to detain the meeting with a long speech, especially as
I should be obliged in a great measure to repeat what I have laid before the
world at my leisure, in a work so often referred to this morning. I may
however state, that soou after the appearance of that work, the Minister for
Foreign Affairs did me the honour of addressing to me a letter, desiring me
to lay before the Governmcut of this eonutry the particulars of that plan. I,

252

of course, most cheerfully complied, and with the permission of the Noble
Secretary of State, I shall now lay the substance of that paper before the Con-
vention. From the great and iu creasing amount of the African slave-trade,

the evils of which have only been aggravated by the various attempts that have
hitherto been made to restrain it, I submit, I am entitled to assume that the
true principle on which an effective measure of abolition should be based
has uot yet been disclosed. I will not assert, that the plan I am now to
bring forward is free from all difficulty • but I confidently maintain that
there is no difficulty atteuding it which caunot be easily surmounted, if the
Government will consent to apply to it the mere moral force at its disposal.
Mr. Buxton's mode of arriving at the suppression of the slave-trade
is, by the civilization of Africa. A gallant officer (Lieut. Fitzgeealb)
believes that it is possible to effect it by colonizing the coast, and g
the mouths of the rivers. It will be seen that I do not rely either (
efficacy of a blockade, or on the tardy process of African civilization. The
lever, with which I propose to overthrow this colossal grievance, is to be
found among the simplest elements of economical science. It is by cutting
off the demand for victims that the supply is to be suppressed. It is by
making the purchaser and the possessor of au African slave insecure in the
enjoyment of his unlawful acquisition, that he is to be deterred from paying
the price. It is by demonstrating to the slave-dealer, that imported Africans
will no longer be a marketable commodity, and by that process alone, that he
will willingly abaudon a trade which has ceased to be profitable. The great
consumers of African slaves are the empire of Brazil, and the colonial depen-
dencies of Spain. I beg to impress this point strongly on the Conventiou,
that all the countries formerly so deeply engaged in this accursed traffic, have
been driven from it with the exception of these two. The white inhabitants
of the Brazilian empire begin to be seusible of the imminent dangers to which
they will expose themselves, if they persevere much louger in adding to the
disproportionate amount of their negro population, by the toleration of the
African slave-trade. With the example of St. Domingo before their eyes, we
have a reasonable guarantee of the sincerity of the professions of his Imperial
Majesty's government, in favour of a system of absolute suppression. The
case is somewhat different with regard to the colonial dependencies of Spain.
In Cuba, the white and celoured portions of the population are nearly balanced
in numerical strength. On this point there is some little difference of opinion
betweeu Mr. Scoble and myself. He believes the numbers now existing there
to be somewhat greater than I make them to be. As the difference, however,
has little or no bearing on the priueiple I desire to support, I shall not detain
you by contesting it. In Porto Rico, the negroes are far outnumbered by the
inhabitants of European descent. In both islands, but especially in Cuba, the
natural desire for independence has of late years been stimulated into passion,
by the intolerable burden of the fiscal exactions -which have been levied for
the purpose of defraying- the charges of a war in another hemisphere, in which
they feel no interest. It is in consequence of this state of things, that the
sincerity of the professions of the government of her Catholic Majesty, on
the subject of the suppression of the slave-trade is liable to reasonable sus-
picion. The plauters of Cuba and Porto Rico, wherever their estates are
fully aud properly peopled with a just proportion between the sexes, in place
of desiring the continuance of the slave-trade, have a direct aud obvious
On the neighbouring continent of North America,

253

within two days' sail of the Havana, the average value of a field slave is at
least a thousand dollars. In Cuba, the effect of the competition of the slave-
dealers with each other is to reduce the value of an imported African to less
than the third part of that amount. The high price of slaves in those States
of North America which adjoin the Gulf of Mexico is still maintained, in
spite of the well known fact, that, in the breeding districts of Maryland and
Virginia, the negro population is found to increase in a duplicate ratio, as
compared with the inhabitants of those regions of European descent. The
planters of Cuba are aware, that the negro population of Virginia has long been
doubling itself every twelve years and a half, while the white inhabitants
require twenty-five years to accomplish the process of duplication. There
is nothing in the climate of Cuba to prevent a similar rate of iucrease of the
negroes. There is nothing, in short, but the cheapness of labour, arising from
the toleration of the African trade, which prevents the proprietors of old
plantations in Cuba from throwing themselves with confidence on the priu-
ciple of propagation. Here I would desire respectfully to guard myself
against the supposition of my being the apologist of slavery under any circum-
stances, or with any degree of modification. My present business is to deal
with the African slave-trade, and to suggest a practicable mode of accom-
plishing its suppression. In the proper place, and at the proper period, I do
not despair of being able to demonstrate, that by a resort to sound principles,
the practice of slavery itself may be rooted out, in those very countries whose
social and political institutions are now so intimately blended with it. I have
not engaged in this conflict without endeavouring to measure the strength of
the adversaries with whom I shall have to conteud. Of these I perceive there
are several classes :— The mere dealer in slaves— the man who invests his
capital in the building and outfit of fast sailing clippers, in manning them
with their ruffian crews, iu loading them with their cargoes of rum or gun-
powder, and in devoting himself to the study of iuternational treaties, and
preventive laws for the sole purpose of evading them, is not by any means to
be regarded as a very formidable antagonist. The terms "coward" and
"capitalist" were never more truly convertible than in the person of the
trafficker in slaves. He may hire the bands of ruffians and outcasts to hazard
their lives in his service ; but his money he will not peril without the assurance
of a profitable return. That object he finds the means of accomplishing,
either by spreading the risk over a sufficient number of separate adventures,
or by abandouing a portion of the gain he contemplates in the shape of
premiums of insurance, to Joint Stock Companies or private Underwriters.
Another class of opponents will be found among the ministerial and judicial
servants of the Spanish Government. Their superiors in the mother country
have ingeniously made it the interest of a great number of these public func-
tionaries to evade the execution of the laws, and to convert that evasion into
a fruitful source of profit, the better to secure the retention of the island in
her Catholic Majesty's dependence. Inasmuch, however, as the existence
of the Court of mixed commission at the Havana, with all its acknowledged
imperfections, has had the effect, during the twenty years elapsed since its
creation, of disappointing the cupidity of those venal functionaries to a very
considerable extent, I see no reason to doubt that, with the improved
machinery I propose to introduce, this iniquitous source of profit will be
completely dried up and extinguished. Before entering on the specification of
the nature of this machinery, it may not be inconvenient to indicate the first

254

and most important step of the process which I propose shonld be followed.
It is asserted by many of our most eminent philanthropists, that, according
to the spirit of our existing treaties with Spain, wc are eutitlcd to demand the
instant liberation of every individual consigned to slavery, in any part of the
'Spanish dependencies, since the date of the first of these Conventions. To
this argument it would not be easy to offer a satisfactory reply. For the pre-
sent, however, I am content to cut off the 'source of future importation, and
to leave this an open question, to be agitated by others. Should my humble
voice be ever entitled to share in the decision, I trust I need not say with
what cordiality wonld I give it iu the affirmative. Let us not embarrass our-
selves, however, with too much work at a time. The most convenient
moment for discussing this separate question will be after the channels of
importation shall have been cut off, and after the enormous masses of capital
at this moment engaged in the trade to Africa shall have been finally drawn
off, to find their due level in the great money markets of the world. Accord-
ing to the views I am now to submit to your Society, the Courts of Mixed
Commission at the Havana and Rio de Janeiro, which under the operation of
existing treaties have gradually been sinking into a state of listless inactivity,
will at once be raised to a degree of efficieucy and vigour, which they have
not possessed at any period of their existence. The plan I have couceived is,
by the negociation of new conventions or of additional clauses to existing
treaties, to confer on these Courts the power of enforcing the laws of the
country in which they sit, by declaring that A, B, or C, the inmate of a bar-
racoon, or a labourer on a plantation, is not a native Creole, but has been
introduced into the country in violation of law and treaty. I am further to
propose that the onus of proving a lawful dominion over the slave should be
thrown on the party claiming it, that, in short, there should be a legal pre-
sumption in favour of freedom ; and I think there can be the less objection
to introduce and recognise this principle in the treaty I recommend for nego-
ciation, inasmuch as I have been informed by the eminent Spanish juris-
consults with whom I have advised on the subject, that the presumption of
freedom, in the absence of proof to the contrary, is already the right of every
inhabitant of her Catholic Majesty's dominious. Happily, however, for
the interests of humanity, it is matter of notoriety, among persons conversant
with the subject, that a fresh imported or bozal negro can, for many years
after his arrival in America, be distinguished at a glance from the native
Creoles. The distinction is in fact so clear, that the mere presentation of the
individual iu Court, without a word of evidence as to the place of his birth,
would in most cases be sufficient to determine his condition: Should her
Majesty's Government be induced to enter on such a negociation, the time
grounds and motives for the opposition to be expected from the Government
of her Catholic Majesty will not, in all probability, be openly avowed.
It will never be admitted that a clandestine encouragement of the worst prac-
tices of the slave-trade is reudered necessary by a sort of political necessity,
in order to repress the aspirations of the Creole population of Cuba, for that
sort of independeuce which the other Spanish provinces of America have
already achieved. Neither will it be pretended that the continuance of the
slave-trade is necessary to the successful cultivation of the soil, in pre-
sence of the fact already alluded to ; the rapid increase of the negro populatiou
in the neighbouring states of the North Americau Union. The ostensible
ground of opposition will probably be confined to a pretended fear of discon-

255

tent and insurrection on the part of those slaves who will not be entitled to a
declaration of freedom in their favour, in consequence of the place of their
birth, or the date of their introduction. Her Catholic Majesty's Govern-
ment have constantly professed as ardent a desire as our own to concur in the
measures of suppression already proposed ; and the fact is undeniable, that,
in the place of being diminished or modified by any of the measures of
restraint which have heretofore been resorted to, the evil is actually on the
increase ; a position satisfactorily established by the progressive nature of the
oflicial returns of the amount of the slave population. The arguments that
may be drawu from a pretended fear of discontcut and insurrection may be
answered by the fact, that it is the wild and savage African alone whose
removal we propose ; and that it is no part of our plan to disturb the condi-
tion of the comparatively civilised Creole. It is, besides, by units, and not
by cargoes, that the process of liberation will take place ; so that the pro-
ceedings under the new treaty will be much less alarming in their general
aspect, or their individual amount, than those already sanctioned by existing
Conventions. As the proceedings of the Court of Mixed Commission, more-
over, have hitherto been conducted in strict conformity with the Spanish
principle of closed doors, written pleadings, and secret deliberations, it might
possibly be advisable to adhere to the established practice ; inasmuch as the
presence of a British prosecutor, and one or more British judges, would afford
a sufficient guarantee for their perfect regularity. The mere existence of the
Court for upwards of twenty years, in the course of which, discussions have
frequently arisen affecting the freedom of entire cargoes of Africans, without
producing a single practical evil, to give the Captain-General or the Go-
vernment any substantial chance of complaiut, appeal's to nic to aiford a broad
basis on which the demand for the enlargement of the powers of the Court
may be conveniently founded. The great advantage of proceeding by units,
and uot by masses, is, that every iudividual liberation would amount to the
assertion of a vital principle, without affording any reasonable pretext for
apprehension or alarm. It may uot be easy to suggest any better expedient
than that recognised by treaty, for the case of a difference of opinion between
the two Commissary Judges. It is true, that in doubtful cases, a decided
leaning has been observed, on the part of the Spanish Members of the Court,
towards the acquittal of the prizes brought up for condemnation ; and there
may, therefore, be some reasou to apprehend a corresponding disposition, to
resist the liberation of the negro clients of the British prosecutor, as
often as a sufficient air of doubt can be thrown over the case, to justify
the hesitation of the Spanish Commissary Judge. On the very worst
supposition it is possible to conceive, the drawing of lots for the choice of
the arbitrator would be resorted to iu every case, without a single exceptiou.
I make this hypothesis iu the full conviction that such a degree of perti-
nacity on the part of the Spanish and Brazilian judges, is not to be appre-
hended. It would at least be wholly inconsistent with all that has yet
occurred in these countries : for it is only when a case has acquired a certain
air of doubt or difficulty, that the foreign judges, whatever their leaning or
inclination may have been, have gone so far as to divide the Court and call in
the arbitrator. The practice of the Spanish Judges, however indefensible in
many particular instances, has never yet been carried to this systematic
extreme ; and, in fairness, it caunot be said there is any just reason to anti-
cipate such au unheard of design of pertinacity for the future. But suppose

256

for a moment, that the Spanish judge and the Spanish arbitrator were to he'
for ever deaf to the calls of duty, and the evidence of fact, it results from the
mere doctrine of chances, which, when applied to thousauds of cases, becomes
infallible, that one-half of the whole of those to be thus presented to the
Mixed Court for adjudication, would be decided in favour of the liberty of
the slave. Now, the systematic liberation of one-half only of the future impor-
tations would be perfectly sufficient to prevent the planter from paying a
remunerating price to the dealer or importer, and hence it is demonstrated,
that the system I propose must be fatal to the trade. Objections of a dilatory
nature may, of course, be expected on the part of her Catholic Majesty's
Ministers, at the outset of the negociation. The necessity or convenience of
consulting the Governors or Captains-General, of their transatlantic pos-
sessions, will probably be urged as a reason for withholding their immediate
assent to a proposition, which is calculated to affect the future interest and
prosperity of the Spanish West India colonies. To render this pretence
unavailing, I am strongly of opinion, that the past and future importation of
slaves into these colonies, should be separated from each other by a broad line
of distiuction ; aud that the object of the proposed negociation, should be exclu-
sively confined to the case of future importations. The most convenient ter-
minus a quo would probably be the date of the first official note of the British
Ambassador, directing the attention of her Catholic Majesty's Government
to the subject. I need not trouble the Couvention with a detail of the collateral
advantages, for the most part of a political and governmental uature, which
I thought it my duty to suggest to her Majesty's Ministers, as additional
reasons for entering ou this negociation. Nor would I think myself justified
in endeavouring by the force of mere authority, to persuade the Convention
to adopt the views I have brought forward. I may be allowed to mention,
however, that the periodical press, iu reviewing my work on the Spanish
West Iudies, in which this plan of slave-trade suppression was originally
disclosed, has been all but unanimous in its approval of the principle. Even
the Westminster Review, whilst taking Mr. Buxton and myself to pieces,
admits that my plan would be so effectual, that the apprehension of its conse-
quences would indnce the Spanish Government to withhold its consent from
the treaty, the ucgociation of which I have recommended. I have no doubt
of the good disposition of her Majesty's Ministers, and their general
sympathy with the views of this Convention, on the' leading topics sub-
mitted to your consideration. If the plan I have now brought forward
shall have the good fortune to meet with your approval, the expression of
that approval in the form of resolutions or otherwise, will, doubtless, secure
for it more careful consideration, and afterwards a chance at least of its
obtaining a fair trial.

Mr. JUSTICE JEREMIE.— It is with extreme reluctance that I appear
before you on two following days, but I have been requested to say a few words
on Mr. Turnbull's plan. Mr. Turneull's intention we all know to be
excellent, his talents we can bear witness to, and I am sure that his zeal is
surpassed by none. It is, therefore, with great regret that, while I acknow-
ledge the importance of his plan, I am bound to express some doubts of its
ultimate success. What is his plan ? Precisely the one that we have tried
at the Mauritius, and which did not succeed. This is my justification for
appearing before you. We had it in operation there for years, and yet it
failed. The theory is no doubt a tempting one ; as it invalidates the title

257

to an imported slave,- to the last moment of that slave's existence ; from
the day that he is withdrawn from Africa to the day he expires, the title
to him in law is never recognised. So far it is excellent ; bnt when yon
come to its practical operation, you must recollect where its principles are to
be carried out; and the difficulty iu finding an executive principle inanyslave
community, or under any modification of slavery. At the Mauritius we
had Governors of the highest ranis: ; we had Judges selected from your best
men ; and as to the zeal of your public prosecutor, I happened to be that pro-
secutor, so you must judge for yourselves ; all I can say is, that I engaged
most heartily iu that duty. But still we failed, the temptation was too
strong ; we did not abolish slavery ; on the contrary, when the apprentice-
ship system was introduced, 30,000 persons were paid for by British money,
whom we knew had never been slaves. Then, how could I remain present
at this Convention, and hear a measure of this nature propounded, without
bearing my testimony to its inefficiency, or to the dire position in which we
should be placed, if that were the only means left us for suppressing the
slave-trade ? For who are to carry out the measure at the Havaua ? The
Spanish Governor, and the Mixed Commission Court; but what confidence
are you to place in either ? Most of you have heard of the case of the General
Laborde recorded in Mr. Buxton's book. "What do we find there ? The Mixed
Commission Court, by the most wretched of quibbles, by the mere circum-
stance that the supercar go'swife and children were on board, pronouncing
the negroes all passengers, for the wife was a passenger. And this is the
Court which is expected to do its duty, and to pronounce every negro who
hereafter enters such a country free. They will not perform even their
minor duties, how then can you expect that they will fulfil those more impor-
tant functions, which by this plan yon would devolve on them ? All the
minor officers, all the subordinates, at least, are leagued against you ; public
opinion is universally opposed to you, and even among superior officers all
such would be discarded from society as should perform -their duty. Such
was the case at the Mauritius. And so it will be in all such communities.
But it strikes me that there is also an objection to the principle of the plan.
Here I fancy may have beeu, though I have seen no one on the subject, the
objection of the Foreign-office. What are you aiming at by this proposal'
To induce the Spanish Government to allow foreign Judges to determine a
question which they will call, whatever you may term it, a question of
property, arising among their own subjects, within their own territories
This, I think, is perfectly unheard of. The King of the French, it is
stated, seems inclined to favour this plan. Now how do we stand with
that nation, m reference to the slave-trade itself? Where is the defect of
the French treaty? It is this ; the King of the French will not even allow
of a Mixed Commission Court, he will not allow a Court composed partly of
foreigners to try French subjects, though taken on the high seas, if on board
a French ship. How then can we expect Spaniards to allow questions of
Property (arising in the colonies themselves) to be tried by foreign judges t
We, indeed, do not admit that slaves are property; but before a foreigner
will adopt this principle, he must have annihilated slavery. Up to that
moment he will feel that this is a question of property. The sea has been
justly termed the common highway of nations, and by treaty with such powers,
your Mixed Courts are permitted to interfere with cases of slave-trading as
with cases of piracy. But even this is too;much, both in France and America

■

258

How, then, can you reasonably expect that any foreign government will
allow you to interfere in their internal affairs i Admiring the principle of the
proposed system- as I do, feeling that if the Spanish legislature could be
induced to pronounce, that for the future any slave imported illegally, shall
be considered as held illegally through the whole period of his life, as well as
his issue, (which was the case at Mauritius), they will deserve great credit
for good intentions at least ; and acquiescing in Mr. Turnbull's views to that
extent, I am prepared to uphold any proposition to tbat effect. But yet,
from the experience I have had in the Mauritius and elsewhere, of the imprac-
ticability in a slave community of working out plans of this nature, I must
still acknowledge, in rendering the fullest justice to Mr. Turnbull's zeal
and intention, that he has not, in my humble opinion, discovered the panacea
for the terrific scourge which has so long hung over the world.

Mr. JOSEPH STURGE.— I wish to say a few words on the proposition
before the Convention, believing tbat it is perfectly consistent with our prin-
ciples to take it up. Whether it can be carried out or not is another question,
on that point I agree to a certain extent with Justice Jeremie ; but I think
that the Convention should, as far as possible, endeavour to get the principle
asserted, both by English and Foreign authorities. I understand the point to
be this, that a system of registration should be adopted in slave-holding coun-
tries, which will throw the onus probandi on the slave-holder, that the slave is his ;
and not that the slave should be obliged, as he was even in our colonies, to
prove his right to freedom. If we could only get that principle asserted, I
think it would be productive of great benefit, but I would make it retro-
spective ; for I believe that if the spirit of our treaties with Brazil, Cuba, and
other places were carried out, every slave who has been imported there since
they were entered into, .and whose master cannot prove that he is a slave,
ought to be at once set free. My friend Tuenbtjll's proposition only goes to
a system of registration, which from the present time shall oblige the master to
prove that the negro is a slave. I think, however, it is a most important
point, and one wliich the Convention should take up.

Mr. W. D.CREWDSON.— Ihavebeen struck in the course of this discussion
with what I consider a departure from principle. If I understand the point, we
are in danger of attempting to modify slavery, whereas we are met on the grand
principle, tbat it should henceforth cease. I am afraid of sacrificing principle
to something like expediency. If we do tbat, we shall afford a shelter to our
enemies for entrenching themselves behind our own regulations. I would
have the Convention seriously to look at this, before they enter into any
resolutions on Mi: Ttonbull's proposal. I tbink there is danger in it.

Dr. BOWRING.— I feel that the Convention is not at present in a con-
dition to adopt the proposition now brought before it ; but it is due to Mr.
Turnbull, and to the great zeal and labour whicb he has brought to bear on
this very important question, that it should be referred to a Committee to
examine into its general bearings. It will then be ascertained whether
there are such practical difficulties in this plan as to prevent it from coming into
operation. I certainly cannot forget, that about twenty years ago, there was in
the capital and in the cortes of Spain, a great desire to abolish slavery and
the slave-trade. I was present during a great many of their debates ; and
resolutions friendly to the blacks, and apparently tending to the overthrow
of both these evils were passed, but every body acquainted with the
colonies, knew that they were as the idle wind which they regarded not. My

259

friend has put that difficulty most honestly forward. He says that you must
have co-operation in order to give effect to his proposal, and he anticipates
that difficulty which every one acquainted with despotic governments in
their connexion with slavery and the slave-trade in every part of the world
kuows is immense, if not invincible. But I do not think that we should do
my friend justice, unless an attentive ear were lent to his proposals, and they
were examined in all their details. I would therefore propose,

That the plan of the slave-trade suppression, submitted by D. Turn-
bum,, Esq., be referred to a committee, consisting of Joseph Sturge,
J. G. Birnby, J. Jeremie, Josiah Oonder, William Forster,
William Taylor, Esquires. Dr. Bowring, and Dr. Madden, to
consider and report thereon.

JOSIAH CONDEE,Es<i.— I think we should be a little on our guard against
rejecting a feasible measure, merely upon the ground that it may not prove
an efficient remedy. If we were to take up any secondary means under the
idea of thereby accomplishing our great object, great mischief would result ;
but while we are looking mainly to the extinction of slavery, I hope if there
be any plan which would lessen existing evils, we shall not be deterred from
eucouraging it, merely on the ground that it will, in our opinion, fall short of
accomplishing all the good that others may sanguinely anticipate from it. I
believe none of us calculate that Mr. Tuenbuii's scheme would accomplish
much towards the abolition of slavery ; but, as a subsidiary measure, it may
be well worth attention. On that account I am happy to second Dr.
Bowrin g's proposition.

Rev. A. HARVEY.— I am sorry to intrude myself upon the notice of the
Convention, but I do think that if wc leave the high ground of principle
which we have assumed, and consent in any degree to adopt or countenance
a plan which ouly goes to mitigate and alleviate slavery, and may, there-
fore, tend to prolong it indefinitely, we lose that moral influence which we
now are enabled to employ for the speedy termination of the system. I
think the statements made by the learned Judge (Jeremie), show that the
plan before us would have but little influence in leading foreign nations to
take immediate measures for the entire abolition of slavery ; and depend
upon it, that if we countenance a system which embodies in it expediency,
however little of it there may be, it will weaken the influence we should
otherwise exert on the nations of the earth. If we recognise a principle or
system, (that even by implication) acknowledges that slavery has a right to
exist, we certainly shall sanction a great evil ; I would, therefore, give no
countenance to the adoption of any such plan.

Mr. JOSEPH STURGE.— -I should be sorry to say one word in support of
any suggestiou which could be considered in the least degree a compromise of
our great principle. But I will endeavour to illustrate the view I take of the
subject, by putting a case with regard to murder or the taking away of human
life. I conceive that under the gospel dispensation, we are forbidden to take
human life under any circumstances ; but while I assert that general prin-
ciple, I believe it is my duty, in every individual instance, to attempt to avert
the evil itself. Now, while we assert the general principle of total and imme-
diate emancipation; and if any document is issued from this Convention to
foreign powers, I trust that principle will be fully stated ; yet I believe it is

260

our duty to try to lessen the number of victims placed under bondage before
tliis great end can be attained.

Rev. Dr. MORRISON.— There seems to he a great principle in the move-
ment itself. I think if Mr. Tubsbtjul's proposal he fairly and logically put, it
asserts the right of the slave to his liberty. In addition to this, and I am
persuaded that I am giving it the right interpretation, these propositions are
things which we must naturally look for as arising out of this Convention. I
think we shall not effect much, unless we put ourselves in communication
with the world. I have no idea that government protocols will effect the
object we have in view. My firm conviction is, that the moral power of this
body, if we work it out as we ought to do, will be felt hy France, by Spain,
and by our own Government. If you do not utterly fail in your object, you
will commence a process of illumination which will tend ultimately to achieve
that triumph at which we are all aiming.

SAMUEL SOUTHALL, Esq. (of Leominster).— I came here with the in-
tention of not speaking if I could avoid it; hut I do fear that if we adopt
the plan now proposed, we shall in some degree he listening to expediency.
If I understand it, the first thing proposed to he recommended, is a system of
registration, that is to say, a system for the modification of slavery. I admit
that the object is in itself exceedingly good, bnt I think it is not likely to be
carried into effect. I merely wish to call the attention of the Convention to
this point, that we should do nothing which can in any way compromise our
principles.

Rev. N. COLVER— I feel reluctant to speak, yet I am constrained to say
that the sentiments uttered hy that brother, are those which have passed in
my own mind. If the entire recommendation of Mr. Tttrnbull should be
carr'ed into effect, what will be the result ? To say the least, a system of
registration will be gone into, and if anything be effected by it, it will occupy
a series of years to accomplish it. Now, while we have put forth our voice,
demanding in the name of heaven and righteousness, full and unconditional
emancipation, may it not be said, if we adopt such a measure as this, they did
not expect that voice to be heard ; they have themselves suggested measures,
for its continuance for a season ? I feel that there may be a compromise of the
great principles on which we have set out in making this movement. If the
Spanish government are disposed to ameliorate the condition of their slaves,
let them do it on their own responsibility. We should go for immediate
emancipation and that alone ; let us not peril our great object.

Dr. BOWRING— The reference to a committee does not imply an approval
of the course recommended upon the authority of my friend who is labouring
with us in the promotion of our great object. If his views are correct, and
effect can be given to his plans, we shall finally and completely eman-
cipate multitudes of slaves. Supposing there are in the Spanish colonies
50,000 or 60,000 slaves wrongfully detained in bondage, do we not further
the object we have at heart by effecting their deliverance ? But even if this
were not the case, may not this committee be charged to consider whether
this project is compatible with the great principle upon which this Convention
acts ? I confess, the difficulties I feel are great. I wish I could anticipate so
much concurrence on the part of the Spanish authorities, as to lead to the
loosening of the chains of so many of our fellow-men ; hut I cannot indulge
that hope. There are, however, individuals whose judgment I honour, who
think that the plan is worthy of attention, and therefore we ought not hastily

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261

to reject it. We ought not to decide a priori and without examination, that
there is in the scheme itself a violation of the principles on which the Conven-
tion is acting. It docs not appear that the objections to a committee are of
sufficieut weight to induce us to refuse inquiry into proposals emanating from
the zeal and knowledge of our friend.

FRANCIS BARKER, Esq. (of Pontefract).— We are met from all parts of
this country, and many parts of the world, to secure, if possible, universal
liberty, immediate emancipation ; and to this position we must adhere. If we
begin to enter on minor questions, they will be endless ; and we shall injure
ourselves on the grand question on which we are assembled. Our only
hope of success is in keeping to the great principle on which we have
set out. Without our issuing a definite motion on the subject, the Com-
mittee of the British and Eoreigu Anti-Slavery Society can do, as they have
often done before, communicate with the government, or adopt measures for
bringing the case before foreign powers, which will answer every end. I
would not have obtruded myself on the Convention, had I not feared that our
principles were in danger.

Bev. J. KENNEDY.— It has struck me during the course of this discussion,
that there are mistakes operating on the minds of those who oppose Mr.
Tuhnbull's plan, on the ground of principle. First, they seem to regard it
as a plan for the abolition of slavery, instead of the slave-trade. Mr. Tuhn-
bull's design is simply to render the possession of slaves insecure, and thereby
diminish the stimulus of high profits which at present renders the slave-trade
so frightfully extensive. I do not pronounce any opinion as to its ultimate
success ; but where is the departure from principle, or the resort to mere
expediency in such a measure ? Then, a word to which we all attach impor-
tance, seems to operate injuriously on the minds of some of our friends — the
word " immediate." We are all averse to anything gradual in schemes for
the abolition of slavery ; but we must not be led away by terms. We do not
expect that our voice will immediately, in the moment of its utterance, break
the manacles of the slave. We call upon governments immediately to eman-
cipate their slaves, because it is their duty. But wc know that they will not
do it at once, and we only hope, ultimately, to bring them to the discharge
of their duty. The means we employ will, in this respect, be necessarily but
gradual in producing their effect ; but no one supposes that we compromise
the right of the slave to be emancipated to-day, because we labour to emanci-
pate him twelve months hence. Now, we have only to ascertain in what
respects there is anything gradual in the operation of Mr. Tube-bull's plan, to
see that it involves no violation of the doctrines we hold on the subject, of un-
conditional and immediate freedom. It does not abolish the slave-trade by a
stroke. It does not banish the man-trader at once, and for ever from the
coasts of Africa. But if it shall lessen the demand for his stolen goods by
rendering the possession of them insecure, it will contribute materially to
the destruction of the trade ; and in this, its leading design, our views of
immediate emancipation have no beariug upon it at all. Then as to its opera-
tion, in leading to the positive abolition of slavery itself, we may draw an
illustration from the South American states. It is our desire that all these
states should at one and- the same time, and that immediately, emancipate
all their slaves. But if we heard that from the adoption of some parti-
cular measure, in itself lawful, a number of individuals, in a few of the states,
had either voluntarily, or under the compulsion of the law. emancipated

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262

their slaves, we should rejoice in the fact, even though thousands still
remained iu bondage. Apply this to the case . in hand. Mr. Turnbull finds
a multitude of slaves in a certain place, he says these are entitled to their
' immediate freedom ; but the alleged owners will not grant it. He then says,
many of these slaves, as I can prove by their very faces, have been brought
into this place illegally within a certain period, if you will not grant me the
immediate and entire abolitiou of slavery throughout your couutry, I beg
and claim that this portion of your bondsmen may at once be loosed from
their chains. Such seems to me to be Mr. Tuhnbull's plan, and whether
practicable or not, it involves no principle which is not in obvious harmouy
with our acknowledged and established doctrines.

The CHAIRMAN.— It would be exceedingly improper for me as Chairman
to take part in any discussion ; but I trust I shall not be exceeding proper
limits, if I say that I think it is only due to Mr. Turnbull that the subject
should go to a committee.

The resolution was then put and earned unanimously.
Mr. J. BACKHOUSE.— I have to present the Report of the committee
on the volume of American papers. We think they are too valuable
to be lost. I hope you will adopt the resolution I now beg to move, aud I.
• trust that the publication committee will not expunge any part without
being thoroughly satisfied of the propriety of that measure. I move

That the replies to queries of the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery
Soeiety on slavery in the United States, furnished by the Committee of
the Ameriean Anti-Slavery Soeiety, eontaining most valuable and very
important information, be now reeeived, and referred to the publication
eommittee, to publish the whole, or sueh parts as they may deem
expedient.

Mr. "W. D. CREWDSON seeonded the resolution, whieh was put and
agreed to unanimously.

Dr. BOWRINC— The sub-committee appointed to consider what reso-
lutions should be proposed to the Convention, on the subject of slavery in
Mohammedan countries, suggest that the following be adopted.

That the present moment, when the European powers are exercising
so great an influenee on the affairs of the Ottoman Empire, is peeuliarly
favourable to the intervention for the suppression of slavery in the
regions of the East; and that a memorial be presented to Loud
Viscount Palmehston, entreating his Loedship's assistance in obtaining
sueh declarations from the Sultan, as are likely to lead to the entire
suppression of slavery in the eountries subjeeted to the Sultan's govern-
That this meeting has learnt with deep interest, the measures
adopted by the Viceroy of Egypt, for the suppression of the abominable
slave-hunts by his Highness's troops, and espeeially the declaration of

mm

his wish to aid in bringing about the extinction of slavery. That tlie
thanks of this meeting be communicated to him, with the assurance
that the friends of civilization throughout the world, will hail with
delight every step taken by the Viceroy, in furtherance of his just and
generous purposes ; whether by impeding the importation of, and the
traffic in, slaves, by .the encouragement of agricultural productions in
central and eastern Africa, by the abolition of the slave market in his
dominions, or by any other legitimate and pacific measures which
may facilitate the manumission of slaves, and the entire overthrow of
slavery.

I stated in the address which I had the honour to submit to you yesterday,
that there can he no douht a great deal of religious influence still attaches to
the Caliphat ; that there ;'never was a period in which that influence was so
likely to he well and happily directed, as at the present moment ; that there
never was a period in which the affairs of the Ottoman Empire were so much
in the hands of Christian powers. And, I believe, they cannot exercise their
influence more beneficially than in endeavouring to obtain from the Grand
Seignior, some declarations grounded on the Mohammedan law, aud pointing
to the abolition of slavery as a religious duty. This would be a noble result
of that great influence they have obtained in the direction of the policy of the
Sultan. I endeavoured, in explaining the religious position of the Sultan, in
the eyes of the Mussulmans in the East, to show that it greatly resembled
that of the Pope in the West ; and knowing that considerable effect has been
produced among Catholic nations, by a hull which has lately emanated from
his Holiness, I desire that an Ottoman hull should in the same spirit also be
issued, which is now attainable, and cannot be without great influence in the
Mohammedan world. The second resolution refers to the state, of things in
Egypt. I am desirous that the Convention should give encouragement to the
Viceroy of Egypt to continue that course which he has begun ; and that
public opinion, for which he has great respect, and to whose influence he is
perpetually referring, .should reach him in an emphatic shape, telling him that
the eyes of the civilized world are upon his conduct, and that if he lend his
assistance aud co-operation in furthering our great work, it will add to his
name a distinction, a reputation, and a glory, more brilliant than any of his
victories have ever obtained for him. It is known to the Convention that a
Parliamentary document exists, in which it is stated, that the Pacha declared
to our Consul General, in an interview at which I had the honour of being
present, that he had heard with sorrow of the miseries caused by the existence
of slavery and the slave-trade ; and that he desired that an end should be put
to the slave-hunts. I may be allowed to state,, that the present minister of
public instruction, Edhem Bey, whose name has been honourably mentioned
in Parliament, and with whose person some of my friends around me are
acquainted, gave me an assurance that he hoped the day would come when
he should build a school on the locality now occupied as a slave-market.

Kcv. T. SCALES.— I request to have the honour of moving the adoption
of the resolutions brought up as a report by Dr. Bowring.

Mr. J. BACKHOUSE.— I beg to second it.

Rev J. ACWORTH, A.M. (of Bradford).— I have nothing to add to

mmmmmmm

264

what Dr. Bo wring has so appropriately uttered. I believe it is well known
to most of the members of the Convention, that we may anticipate success
from this measure, as largely and as speedily as from any other whieh the
Convention has adopted, or is likely to adopt : for I believe it is a pretty well
known faet, that the Pacha of Egypt is as favourable to liberal measures as
most of the Christian governments to which we are making appeals. He
has, I believe, at this momeut youths in eertain parts of the British Empire,
supported at his own expense, for the express purpose of learning our
seiences and arts. I lately eame in eontaet with one of these youths, from
whom I learned that the Pacha was extremely desirous of standing favourably
with the English people.

The resolution was then put and agreed to.

Rev. T. SCALES. — The resolutions which have been carried eontain a
recommendation that a memorial should be drawn up, and that the thanks
of the meeting should be given to the Viceroy of Egypt. I beg therefore to

That the resolutions just passed having recommended the preparation
of a memorial founded on them, the subject be referred to the same com-
mittee, to prepare the memorial and appeal referred to-

Mr. J. BACKHOUSE, seconded the motion, which was put and
agreed to

Eev. J. ACWOBTH.— I rise for the purpose of moving,

That a committee consisting of "William Forster, and J. T„
Piuce, Esquires, with the mover and seconder, be appointed to prepare
a memorial to Government, deprecating and strongly reprobating the
holding of slaves by British functionaries abroad.

We have been preferring requests and presenting memorials to our own
Government to use their best influenee with foreign powers, for the sup-
pression and extinction of slavery all over the globe. It is of the very first
importance that our own Government should stand pure in the eyes of foreio-n
nations, in regard to the matter in question ; and it is impossible that they
ean do so, so long as the functionaries they employ are slave-owners. It is
therefore the business of the Convention, to memorialize Government that
these functionaries be properly dealt with.

Dr. MADDEN. — Mr. Acwokth says it is improper that a British
functionary should be a slave-holder ; lie might have said, that any British '
functionary in a Spanish colony should be a slave-dealer, beeause no slave-
holder ean keep up a sufficient number of labourers by natural increase, he
must be an annual purchaser in the slave-market, and consequently every
slave-holder is a slave-dealer.

JAMES STANFIELD, Esq. (of Belfast).— I seeond the resolution.

Mr. TURNBULL. — I have seen the evils attendant on the system of British
functionaries holding slaves. I therefore support the motion.

The resolution was then put and agreed to.

Mr. E. ALLEN.— I beg to move,

That Thomas Swan, Captain Moohsom, Dr. Madden, Peter Clare,
Isaac CreWdson, J. H. Tredgold, E. Peek, J. G. Birney, W.

MH

Forstek, W. Smjjal, Gborqb Bradbtjrn, D. Turnbull, J. C. Fuller,
and John Murray, be appointed a committee to inquire

1. Whether manacles for slaves are manufactured in this country ?

2. Whether large quantities of inferior fire-arms are also manu-
factured in Great Britain, to he sold to the Africans for their slave wars?

3. Whether cotton goods of a particular fabric and to a large amount
are manufactured in this country, and solely intended for being used in
barter for African slaves?

4. Whether persons in England hold shares in Brazilian and other
mines which are worked by slaves ?

5. Whether any British Joint Stock Banks have branch establish-
ments in countries in which the slave-trade prevails ?

6. What are the quantities of gunpowder exported from any port or
ports in Great Britain to Africa and other parts of the world, respec-
tively ?

I am very glad to have an opportunity of moving the appointment of a com-
mittee to investigate this branch of the subject. I have long been of opinion
that while we were speaking strongly against those abroad who are connected
with slavery, we, ourselves, as a nation, were not entirely clear of the guilt.
I believe that we must try and root out all participation in it. This is more
particularly necessary now that we are going to call on Americau churches
and others to take strong measures against slave-holders. I wish also to bear
my testimony to the warm and active co-operation which the Hibernian
Anti-Slavery Committee have received from Dr. Madden, since his return to
his native country. He has more than once left his family in Dublin to visit
differeut parts of the country, with a view to arouse them on behalf of the
slave. I also wish to call attention to the particular position in which Ireland
stands with regard to American slavery. There is an immense number of
my countrymen annually emigrating to America, and it appears that they
generally go out in complete iguorance of their duty, as regards the anti-
slavery cause. And what is the consequence % They very readily become
inoculated with the slave-holding spirit. If the Convention aid us in disse-
minating a right anti-slavery spirit in Ireland, it will exercise a powerful
influence in assisting our American friends in abolishing slavery.

Eev. J. H. HINTON, M. A.— I beg to second the motion ; it is one to
which I attach the utmost importance. It is, undoubtedly, a fact of which
evidence may be obtained, that all the things alluded to in the resolution
take place ; and that the slave-trade is at this hour actually maintained by
British capital. There is no question about it. It has been stated upon
authority, that there are in this city sleeping partners in the mercantile
houses of Cuba ; and these traitors to humanity are the main pillars of slavery
and the slave-trade. If we could only get at the names of these men, they
deserve to be immortalized. An immortality of infamy belongs to them.
They ought to be exhibited to universal execration. If there be any mem-
bers of the Society of Friends conuected with colonial banks, which uphold and
assist in carrying on the slave-trade, lot them bear the full share of the public

odium that belongs to them. These are the men who paralyze our hopes and
expose us to the taunts of the slave-owner. Slave-owners in the Brazils and
at Cuba laugh at us, while they can have British capital to support them in
carrying on the slave-trade. I trust the iuquiry will be extended to the
quantity of gunpowder exported. I have a return from Liverpool, -which
shows, that by far the larger quantity of gunpowder shipped from that port
last year was sent to Africa, no doubt for the purposes of the slave-trade. I have
reason to know that one colonial bauk has a branch at Puerto Rico ; and will
establish another if it can at Cuba, where the current interest of money is
12 per cent. People are thus betrayed into a support of the slave-trade ; and
ladies and gentlemen, widows and orphans, are deriving a large return for
their money embarked in these banks, through this atrocious system.

Mr. JOSEPH STURGE.— I believe it must be one great object of this
Convention to drag out these atrocities to public light.

Mr. W. FORSTER.— I attach great importance to this resolution ; but
I fear that the branches of the inquiry are too numerous. I do not
know whether, if it could be divided into two or three committees, the
work would not be more effectually done. It is a particular satisfaction to
me, that persons in this country holding slaves in Brazilian operations,
have been brought before the Convention. It does appeal- to me, that almost
every one of the miuing companies is guilty of the sin of slave-holding.

Mr. FULLER.— The inquiry ought not to be limited to Birmingham, which
appears to be the intention, whereas it should take in the district of Sheffield,
from whence the bowie knife is sent to New York, which has inscribed on
it, " Death to abolitionists."

_ Dr. GREVILLE.— I think it would be a great pity to divide this resolu-
tion ; but at the same time it is quite clear that its object cannot be attained
during the sittings of the Convention, and I, therefore, think that it had better
be left in the hands of the Committee of the British and Foreign Anti-
Slavery Society. I think it desirable that there should be no limitation, but
that the inquiry should be as extensive as possible. I consider it a point of
so much importance, that if the motion had not been previously seconded, I
should have felt honoured in doing it.

Mr. TURNBULL.— I am desirous of stating a fact, which, not long ago,
fell uuder my notice. I had put into my hands the copy of a balance sheet
of one of these miniug companies, most of the shareholders of which reside
in this city. In that balance sheet the chief item was £45,000 charged for
" live stock," which must meau men, women, and children.
A DELEGATE.— Are you quite sure it refers to men ?
Mr. TURNBULL — I have not the slightest doubt of it. The animals to
carry the copper are hired.

Captain MOORSOM.— I think it would be advisable to refer it to the
Auxiliary Anti-Slavery Societies to make these inquiries, they can report to
the Committee of the Parent Society, who can render the information thus
obtained available for general purposes. A full report could not be made
during the sitting of the Convention.
Rev. T. SWAN.— I fully concur in the sentiments advanced by Captain

MOORSOM.

Mr. W. FORSTER.— The committee now proposed to be appointed might
bring in a resolution for the adoption of the Convention, referring the subject
to the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society.

267

JAMES HAUGHTON, Esq. (of Dublin).-If the committee arrive at an
affirmative conclusion, they may suggest to the Convention the best mode of
turning the information acquired to a practical result. I fear that the mere
expression of indignation will have little effect upon the nnnds of those who
are so base as to be engaged in the traffic. I hope some plan wiU be adopted
of so bringing the matter to b ear on their minds, that they will be induced
to give up this shameful business. .

The CHAIRMAN.-I would refer it to a committee m the first instance to

Rev T SCALES.— Should a committee be appointed, some of the Ame-
rican 'delegates should be placed upon it. Many of the evils have
come under their notice, and they would assist greatly in ferreting out the

° Mr W. MORGAN.— I believe that Glasgow is involved in the sin to the
extent of £60,000 per annum. On inquiry of a man in Birmingham what
was his trade, he told me, « a dog-collar maker ;» but I have reason to believe
they were negro collars which came upon his anvil.

Mr STACEY — I presume the proposed committee is not to be an exe-
cutive body, but to collect and furnish information which may throw some
light on the subject.

The resolution was then put and agreed to, and the Convention
adjourned.

jr felt

SIXTH DAY'S SITTINGS, THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 1840.
(MORNING).
JOSEPH STURGE, Esq., in the Chair.
The CHAIRMAN—Perhaps I maybe permitted to say, that I n-.~ .
myself more out of place than on the last occasion when I occupied this
Chair- I trust that I shall receive the kind indulgence of my friends , O-day
inasmuch as the question which was then agitated is again tc ,b biought
before us I have no wish to discourage any necessary discussion on the
resolutions which will be brought up ; but as the subject has already been
X fully considered, I trust that our friends who may address the Conven-
tion wm be as brief in the expression of their sentiments as circumstances
wiU admit. There are some very important questions 7* £°™ *££**>
and there are many gentlemen here whose time is exceedingly valuable, i
hone S if I should appear in the course of the day to press points of order,
I shall receive the support of the Convention. Hithcrto-and I wi 1 take my
fuSshai-cof tue blam'e-Ido not think we have paid sufficient attention to
that subject.

The minutes of the previous day having been read and eonfirmed,

Rev. J. A. JAMES brought up the following report :

The Committee to whom was referred the paper of Mr. Godwin,
" On the Essential Sinfulness of Slavery," with instructions to prepare

resolutions thereon, taking " the resolutions of the Rev. Charles
Stotbl " as the basis, take leave respeetfully to reeommend to the Con-
vention the adoption of the following : — i

1. That the paper of the Rev. B. Godwin, " On the Essential Sinful-
ness of Slavery," be reeommended to the Committee of the British and
Foreign Anti-slavery Soeiety for publication.

2. That it is the deliberate and deeply-rooted eonviction of this
Convention, which it thus publicly and solemnly expresses to the
world, that slavery, in whatever form, or in whatever eountry it exists,
is eontrary to the eternal and immutable prineiples of justiee, and the
spirit and preeepts of Christianity; and is, therefore, a sin against God,
whieh aequires additional enormity when eommitted by nations pro-
fessedly Christian, and in an age when the subject has been so generally
diseussed, and its criminality so thoroughly exposed.

3. That this Convention eannot but deeply deplore the faet, that the
continuance and prevalenee of slavery are to be attributed in a great
degree, to the countenance afforded by many Christian ehurches, espe-
cially in the Western world, whieh have not only withheld that publie
andemphatie testimony against the erirne whieh it deserves, but have
retained in their eommunion without eensure, those by whom it is
notoriously perpetrated.

^ 4. That this Convention, while it disclaims the intention or desire of
dictating to Christian eommunities, the terms of their fellowship,
respeetfully, yet urgently recommeuds them to eonsider, whether it is
not their ineumbeut duty to separate from their communion, all those
persons who, after they have been faithfully warned, eontinue in the sin
of enslaving their fellow-ereatures, or holding them in slavery ; a sin,
by the eommission of whieh, with whatever mitigating eireumstances
it may be attended in their own particular instance, they give the
support of their example to the whole system of eompulsory servitude,
and the unutterable horrors of the slave-trade.

5. That it be reeommended to the Committee of the British and
Foreign Anti-Slavery Soeiety, in the name of this Convention, to
furnish eopies of the above resolutions to the eeelesiasticaf authorities
of the various Christian churehes throughout the world.

Rev. J. H. JOHNSON.-As a clergyman of the Established Church of
this country, I feel a very deep interest in this question, and I hope, that
after the discussion which has taken place, we shall unanimously come to the
determination, that so far, at least, as wc are coneerned, we will give no

sanction, directly or indirectly, to slavery in any shape or form. But Before
I proceed to move the adoption of the report which has been brought up,
allow me to read a letter from Judge Jay of New York, addressed to J. G.
Birney, Esq., on the duties of ministers of religion in reference to this
subject. My principal reason for reading it is, Judge Jay is an Episcopalian,
and says, that slavery has tainted his church. As an Episcopalian myself,
I am ashamed of that church, and would not for one moment give the right
hand of fellowship to any American clergyman who is in any way identified
with this system. I fear that I shall occupy your time longer than I ought,
but the letter is of great importance, and therefore with your permission, I
will read it verbatim.

New York, March 28, 1840.

My Dear Sir, — I have been favoured -with your offieial notice of
my appointment to represent the Ameriean Anti-Slavery Society, in the
General Anti-Slavery Conference of Delegates from different parts of
the world, to be held in London, in June next.

Please, Sir, to present to the Committee of your Society, my acknow-
ledgments for this mark of their eonfidenee, and assure them of the
high gratification it would afford me to unite in eouneil with the philan-
thropists of vaiious climes and nations, for the abolition of slavery and
the slave-trade. But there are domestie and other duties which havo
a paramount claim on my time, and whieh deny me the pleasure of
aecepting tbe appointment with whieh I have been honoured.

You will, I am confident, exeuse me if, on fin oeeasion like the
present, I take the liberty of offering a few suggestions for the conside-
ration of the Committee. The proposed Conference may, and I trust
will, in various ways, exereise a most salutary influence on the abolition
question generally, without in the least interfering with the sovereignty
and independence of the several nations to whieh its members belong.
No Ameriean in that body could, with propriety, sanetion measures in
any way derogatory to the rights of his own Government ; and I have
no apprehension that any sueh measures will be proposed.

The action of the Conference is to be of a moral nature, and its influ-
ence is to be that of opinion. This is an age in whieh Governments, as
well as individuals, are amenable to public opinion, whether foreign
or domestie. We ourselves have been instrumental in eommeneing a
mighty temperance reform in Great Britain, and have reeeived the
thanks of the present youthful and interesting oceupant of the Throne,
for plaeing our publieations in her hands. May the people of Great
Britain reciprocate our good offices, by uniting with the intended

270

Conference, in bringing the opinion of Europe to press heavily upon
American slavery. There are various ways in which this may be legi-
timately effected. I will only allude to the influence the Conference
may exert through the church in this country.

That the American church is the great buttress of American slavery,
is a fact no less certain than it is deplorable. The great mass of our
clergy seem to acknowledge, in relation to this subject, the impious
maxim, "Vox populi, Vox Dei." You know that in 1835, the slave-
holders of Charleston, after sacking the Post-office, and burning the
anti-slavery publications found in it, voted at a public meeting their
thanks "to the Reverend Gentlemen of the Clergy, who have so
promptly and so effectually responded to the public sentiment, by sus-
pending their schools in which the free-coloured population were taught ;
and that this meeting deem it a patriotic action worthy of all praise,
and proper to be imitated by the other teachers of similar schools
throughout the state."

And so these ministers of the Lord Jesus Christ, crouching before a
wicked and cruel public sentiment, tamely relinquished a right conferred
on them by the laws of God and man, and expelled from their Sunday
schools all their pupils with black skins, literally driving these lambs
of their flock out of the church, to perish upon the world's bleak
moor.

Among the various denominations which arc distinguished for their
earnest endeavours to " keep abolition out of the church," and caste
and slavery in it, that to which I myself belong, the Protestaut
Episcopal Church, holds a prominent, but I rejoice to say, not the
chief place.

I beg leave to ask your attention to some facts respecting this church,
for a purpose to be presently stated.

Bishop Bowen, of Charleston, South Carolina, fully partaking of the
spirit of " the Reverend Gentlemen of the Clergy" of that city, volun-
teered, not long after the meeting already mentioned, in an address to
the Convention of his diocese, a denunciation of the " malignant philan-
thropy of abolition," and contrasted " the savageism and outlawry "
consequent on abolition, with " domestic servitude under the benign
influence of Christian principles and Christian institutions !" principles
and institutions which denied Sunday School instruction to free-coloured
children, and which, at the very time of the address., tolerated the offer

271
in the Charleston Courier, of fifty dollars for the head of a fugitive
slave ; principles and institutions which led Mr. Preston to declare in
his place, as Senator of the United States, " Let an aholitionist come
within the borders of South Carolina ;— if we can catch him wo will
hang him." Against the " savageism and outlawry" of slavery, the
good Bishop did not think it expedient to raise his voice.

In 1836, a Clergyman in North Carolina, of the name of Freeman,
preached, in the presence of his Bishop, two sermons on the rights and
duties of slave-holders. In these, he essayed to justify from the Bihle,
the slavery hoth of white men and of negroes ; and insisted, that with-
out a new revelation from heaven, no man was authorised to pronounce
slavery "wrong;" and that while masters ought to instruct their slaves
in religion, it was not necessary to teach them to read the Bible. The
sermons were printed in a pamphlet, prefaced with a letter to Freeman
from the Bishop of North Carolina, declaring that he had " listened with
most unfeigned pleasure" to his discourses, and advising their publica-
tion as being " urgently called for at the present time." The em-cathedra
proclamation of the divine right of slave-holders, must have heen
exceedingly grateful to the owners of human chattels throughout the
diocese, and tended strongly to attach them to the Episcopal Church.
This high and authoritative sanction of slavery was too important to be
enjoyed exclusively by a single diocese. " The Protestant Episcopal
Society for the advancement of Christianity in South Carolina;' thought
it expedient, and unquestionably with Bishop Bowen's approbation, to
re-publish Freeman's pamphlet as a religious tract ! Thus did these
Carolina 'Churchmen seek to advance Christianity, by fortifying an
institution, which, by converting human beings into merchandise, opens
a market for the sale of men, women, and children j necessarily annihi-
lates marriage ; abrogates the rights of conscience ; seals up the volume
of inspiration ; and practically establishes Heathenism among about one-
third of the whole population of the slave states. That the church at
the north is far from guiltless of countenancing and fostering the abomi-
nation of desolation, is evident from two striking facts, among others :
first, that the Bishop of North Carolina, who so gratuitously and
unqualifiedly endorsed Freeman's sermons, is a native of New York,
and had removed to the south only a few years before ; and secondly,
the course pursued by the New York Churchman. This periodical is
edited by a Doctor of Divinity, late an instructor in our theological

272

seminary, and it enjoys the especial patronage of the Bishop of this
dioecse, and was recently officially recommended by him to the favour of
the Convention. Yet has the editor frequently assailed the abolitionists
in his columns, in bitter and contemptuous terms. He has even v olun-
teered to defend the most cruel and iniquitous enactments of the Slave
Code. In reference to the legal prohibition of teaching the coloured
population to read, the editor says : — " All the knowledge which is
necessary to salvation, all the knowledge of our duty toward God, and
our duty toward our neighbour, may be communicated by oral instruc-
tion ; and therefore a law of the land interdicting other means of
instruction, does not trench upon the law of God." That is, because a
blind man may acquire a knowledge of Christian truth, provided he has
kind friends, with intelligence and leisure to instruct him; there-
fore it is no violation of God's law to say to three millions of
our fellow-countrymen, " Ye shall not search the Scriptures :" no
impiety in southern legislators, to shroud in darkness the souls of
nearly one-third of their population ! You know we are often rebuked
for our agitation, by the assurance that the preaching of the Gospel
is the legitimate and effectual instrument for destroying slavery ; but
surely the poor slaves have small cause to look for their emancipation
from the Gospel, when preached by such men as those I have now
mentioned.

It is not, however, the slam alone, who finds in the Episcopal Church,
Right Reverend, and other apologists of his wrongs. The persecuted
and despised free man of colour feels his degradation, both sanctioned
and deepened by members of the same Church. I am crediblyinformed
that a certain congregation in this diocese, holds its cemetery by a tenure
which forbids the interment in it of any coloured person ; so that should
an Episcopal coloured clergyman happen to die in that parish, he would
be indebted to others than his Christian brethren for a grave !

But what is this indignity to the lifeless remains of a fellow-man,
to the insult offered in the name of the whole Church, by the Trustees
of the Theological Seminary, to eveiy coloured disciple of the Redeemer?
You are aware that I allude to the formal, deliberate exclusion of Mr.
CiiOTiMELL, a eandidate for holy orders, from the Seminary, solely and
avowedly on account of his dark complexion.

But this is not all. There are instanees of regularly ordained
Ministers, Rectors of Parishes, men having as valid a

■MHMHMHHH

preach the Gospel, as any other Presbyters in our Church, who are
virtually denied a seat in our Ecclesiastical Councils, solely because
they are not of the orthodox hue. The Rector of a coloured Church
in Philadelphia, is excluded by an express canon of the Diocesan
Convention.

My object in troubling you with these details, is to show the
propriety of taking measures to bring fully before the London Con-
ference the action of the Episcopal Church in behalf of slavery and of

Would it not be well for the Committee to cause all the publications
relative to Mr. Crummell's exclusion from the Seminary, together with
Freeman's sermons, and the commendatory letter of his Bishop, to be
laid before that body ?

These documents may then, through the printed proceedings of the
Conference, be brought to the consideration of the British and Irish
Bishops, and of the Divines generally of the Established Church. No
portion of our whole community is so sensitive to foreign influence, as
is the Episcopal Church here to the opiuion of the Church of England.
The reception here given to the Oxford Theology, fully confirms this
assertion. From the documents I have mentioned, the Established
Church would learn with astonishment the conduct of her daughter ;
and be assured that all the reproofs of American abolitionists, will fall
powerless on the ears of the daughter, compared with the reproaches of
the mother. Let the doors of the Archiepiscopal Palace of Lambeth be
closed against pro-slavery Bishops and Clergymen from this country ;
let the Oxford divines refuse to acknowledge as true churchmen, men
who would measure the rights of an Ambassador of Jesus Christ, by
the tincture of his skin ; and we shall have no more decrees from our
Bishops and Clergy, forbidding a coloured candidate for orders from
listening to a theological lecture in the same room with young gentle-
men of high caste ; no more exclusion of coloured Clergymen from our
Conventions ; no more Episcopal sanctions of slavery.

In justice to myself, permit me to observe, that in my opinion, the
Clergy have full right to decide for themselves on the expediency of
joining an Anti-Slavery Association; and that it also belongs to them
to determine how and when they will bear their testimony against
the pollutions and abominations of slavery. But I do hope that the
intended Conference will bring down upon such as are guilty, the

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f the Christian world, for their wanton and gratuitous perver-
sion of their sacred office in -vindicating, as the ministers of a holy and
merciful God, such a stupendous system of iniquity and cruelty, as
American slavery ; and for giving their high and official sanction to the
most revolting form, in which the wicked prejudice against colour
exhibits itself; in insulting and degrading the Christian ministry, and
in erecting the barriers of easte in the church of Him who was
anointed to preach the Gospel to the poor, and sent to heal the broken-
hearted, and preach deliveranee to the captives, and recovery of sight to
the blind, to set at liberty them that are bound.

I rejoice to know that there are bishops and clergymen in the Episcopal
Church to whom my remarks have no application, and also that this
Church, as a whgle, has been less active in defending slavery than
several others. Those others, I trust, will not be forgotten by the
Committee. Let their conduct on this subject be made known to the
London Conference, and through it to the world. I anticipate very
salutary results from bringing upon the pro-slavery Church of this
country, the reproaches of Christendom.

Kegarding, as I do, the Christian ministry as one of the best and
greatest gifts of God to a fallen world, most thankful shall I be to foreign
Christians for their efforts to awaken our clergy, to the great truth,
that it is their holy office to promote love, and peace, and righteousness
among men; and that they most grievously mistake their mission,
when, in the name of their Divine Master, they pronounce his bene-
diction on the bondage, ignorance, and degradation of any portion of
the human family. I am, my dear sir, your's very truly,

"William Jay.
To James G. Birney, Corresponding Secretary of the American
Anti-Slavery Society.

I most cordially agree with every word in that letter. I am perfectly
horrified that any one should stand forth hefore the Christian world, and
declare that slavery is sanctioned by the New Testament. If that fact
could be established, we might as well return home at once to our several
occupations, nay better, than attempt to overturn what God has sanctioned.
But, further, we are told that there is a difference between the slavery of the
present day, and that which prevailed during the labours of the apostles, that
the latter was right, that the former is wrong. What was the condition of
slaves in former times 2 Take the following instances of their situation ; they
were held pro nullis, pro mortuis, pro quadrupedibus, for no men, for dead men,
for beasts. What was the treatment of these men ? They had no head in the

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state, no name, tribe, or register ; they were not capable of being injured ;
tliey could not take property by purchase or descent ; they had no heirs, and
therefore could make no will. With the exception of their pecuUum, every
thing they acquired belonged to their masters. They could not plead nor be
pleaded ; were not eutitled to the rights of matrimony, and could consequently,
have no relief in case of adultery ; they could be sold, transferred, or pawned
as goods, for such they were deemed to be ; they might be tortured for
evidence, punished whenever their masters thought proper, and even put to
death by their sole authority. The slaves of the Greeks then were in a
condition to the full as deplorable as those of our own times. "Will
any oue tell me that the Apostle sanctioned slavery of this description ;
that it is in accordance with the benign principles of the Christian faith ?
We must have a new revelation before we can pronouuee sucb a system right.
But let us see what the New Testament says ? Apart from my books, I must
necessarily speak from recollection, but with perfect confidence. The
Apostle, when speaking of those whom he describes as " disobedient, ungodly,
unholy and profane," specifies several characters to whom he applies these
general epithets. Mark what they are. "Murderers of fathers, and mur-
derers of mothers, manslayers, whoremongers, them that defile themselves
with mankind," aud theu, " meti-stealers." I will attempt to shew that our
translators bave not given the full force of tbat word. They translate the
word A)'Spa7roSior?7£ as referring to men-stealers only; but the reference
here is to tbe restricted sense of the Attic law, in which the Siktj avipawolL<rjXov
, .. . j.rosocution for the distinct crime of kidnapping, and punish-
able by death. But the word avSpa7roSiorj;£ when used in its common and
popular acceptation, meant a dealer in man, so that the slave-trade is
positively and certainly condemued by name iu the New Testament. I have
the authority of the learued Eustathius for thus explaining the word ; and I
think I remember that Bishop HonsLEY, mauy years ago, in an eloquent speech
on the slave-trade, made the same statement in the House of Lords. Now if
dealers in men were placed in the same category of criminals with murderers
of fathers, and murderers of mothers, by St. Paul, what must be the fate of
the person who makes a market for slaves ? Can any one convince me that it
is wrong to steal and to sell meu, but not wrong to hold and to detain men in
bondage 2 I must take leave of common sense, to say nothing of Christian
principle, before I can admit this for a moment. But then I am told that we
have the Epistle to Philemon, and from thence are led to the conclusion, that
there were those in commnnion with the Christian church who were slave-
owners. I make no question, I never can doubt that the word AovXoi does
mean slaves in a qualified sense, that is, those who were in a state of servitude ;
but these must not be confounded with the slaves properly so called, becanse
they occupied a kind of middle rank between slaves and free citizens. Slaves
so long as they were governed by their masters, were called ok-t'rat : but
after they obtained tbeir freedom they were termed SoCXoi, and were only
obliged to the performance of some trifling services as a grateful acknow-
ledgment : see Chrysippus de Concordia. In some places they farmed the land,
and were only required to pay a moderate rent, which it was considered dis-
graceful on the part of the proprietor to attempt to increase ; instances of which
custom are frequent in Plutarch ; and such SoSXoi would render a grateful
willing service. The word AovXevoj is used in the parable of the prodigal
son, where the elder son says, " These many years do I serve thee. Is it
T 2

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slavery for a son to regard and obey the precepts of his father 1 The proba-
bility is, that in the case of Onesimus, he was a bondman in the qualified
sense I have mentioned. There were bondmen for a season, bondmen for
life, bondmen to pay their debts. Men sold themselves to get out of pecuniary
difficulties. "We find that is now the case in India. Then what right have
we to assume that he was any thing else but a bondman for a season, if indeed
he were a bondman at all, except as contrasted with the olnerai, and
especially in the face of the doctrine taught by our Lord, that all men are
brethren 1 As members of Christian communities, it is not the coloured man,
or the white man, the poor man, or the rich man ; but " ye are all one
in Christ Jesus." As a member of the Established Church of this country, I
wished to read this letter from Judge Jay : and I thank you for the attention
yon gave to it. I wish to see it in the hands of all clergymen, from the
highest to the lowest, that whenever any one who calls himself an Episcopalian
clergyman comes from America to this country, we may be able to ash these
questions. Have you driven the coloured children from your schools ? Have
you a negro pew ? Do you exclude coloured men from your burial grounds %
Do you shut out coloured students from the ministry \ If he answers in the
affirmative, let us rejoin, go back then to America, that is the country where
alone you can be received. Pollute not the soil of Britain with your unholy
feet. But I would further ask him, Is there a negro pew in heaven ? Is there
to be a separation between coloured men and white men there ? If there be,
the coloured man will be higher than you. These are my reasons for hoping
that this report will be received and adopted. We dictate to no one. As an
Episcopalian I would not submit to dictation. An Episcopalian, however,
might raise this objection to such an exercise of church discipline —Yon
cannot refuse a slave-holder access to the Lord's Table, provided that he is
in other respects qualified : at least, if yon do, you will be reported to your
Bishop. Very well ; let the report go forth. It is proper that there should,
in our church, be control over individual pastors. But I refuse — assigning
the reasons which I have already adduced. If the Bishop were to say, " You
must admit him ;" I would respectfully reply, "No, my Lord, never .'" One such
martyr as this would settle the question ; and though I am not ambitious of
being a martyr of any kind, yet I would rather be a martyr in this than in
almost any other cause. I leave the matter with you, hoping that if there be
a difference of opinion, we shall not shew the slave-owner that we quarrel
amongst ourselves. Let all be done in love.

Mr. BIRNEY.— The writer of the letter just read is the son of the late
John Jay, at one time Ambassador to this country from the United States,
and afterwards appointed Chief Justice of the United States by General
Washington. Chief Justice Jay was not more illustrious ,for his high
professional distinction and intelleotual attainments, than for his unaffected
Christian piety. With Franklin, and Rush, and Benezet, he is to be classed
among the early abolitionists of America. His son William Jay, is the
worthy offspring of such a father. At a very early period of the present
anti-slavery movement in the United States, he connected himself with it.
But few have rendered such important service as Mr. Jay. Besides aiding
the anti-slavery oause liberally with contributions from his pocket, his pen
has been employed in promoting its objects. His inquiry into the claims of
the African Colonization Society to the support of the benevolent, did more,
perhaps, than any other work to open their eyes to its iniquitous operation.

277

His view of the action of the Federal government on the subject of slavery,
while it demonstrates the supremacy which the slave interest in the United
States has usurped in the administration of the government, is doing much to
bring about its overthrow. The life and writings of Chief Justice Jay,
together with the works just mentioned, have given him a place among the
authors of his country; whilst the confidence of his countrymen has shown
itself, in their having conferred on him the judicial office, which he now fills.

Rev. N. COLVER,— I do not kuow that I ever rose in my life under sensa-
tions similar to those which at this moment possess my mind. The question
before us has assumed a grave aspect. It is one which concerns the church
of Christ. For a number of years, through the mercy of God, that church
has been my home, and whatever concerns it, affects most deeply its character,
its condition, its influence in the world ; because it is intimately conuccted
with the honour of Him, in the merits of whose blood I hope. I enter upon
this subject with great trembliug. I know it is expected that all the dele-
gates from America should enter into it largely and thoroughly. We are on
the ground, we feel its bearing, and its influence ; and its pressure has made us
regard it as others have not regarded and felt it, who have stood at a greater
distance from the scene of couflict. It appears to me that the anti-slavery
world has long mistaken this subject, and that Christians have been involved
in the error. Our conduct has resembled that of a man who would pour
water on the fiery streams which roll down from Mount JEtna, with the view
of quenching the burning mountain. We have been assailing the evils of
slavery, while wc have let slavery itself alone. Till recently, we have scarcely
assailed the root of the whole matter ; the single abstract right of the relation
of the master to the slave, which is sanctioned by the 'slave-laws of every
slave-holding community. We have been finding fault with abuses and with
cruelties. Onr flesh has quivered as we have sat together, and heard the
horrid details of the cruelty perpetrated under slavery. You may pass through
the length and breadth of the southern states, complain of them all, and
every slave-holder will agree with you. But then he will shrug his shoulders,
aud throw off the blame by saying, that it attaches to his neighbour, not to
him. However persecuting and cruel a slave-holder may be, yet having
asserted the right of the relationship, he pleads for what he has done, as rising
out of the necessities of the case. Hence all our reproofs have fallen power-
less. This has recently brought us in America to fight the battle on narrow
ground. The question is not, whether the thousand circumstances which
surround slavery are wrong ; but whether, under any circumstances, however
palliating, a man can hold his brother man in slavery, and not commit sin.
When you once allow, even under the most guarded circumstances, that a
man may continue to maintain the relationship of master to a slave, you have
yielded all that the fiercest slave-holder asks for. I shall confine my remarks
to one point ; the right of appeal to our churches. I trust that there will
be no discussion on the subject, but that we shall all be agreed. There is
no body in existence, under whose Clergy injustice is sheltered, whom it is
not competent for the humblest individual to approach. The courteous
language in which the resolutions are framed, will, I trust, prevent debate.
The right of approaching clerical bodies is one question involved in the reso-
lutions ; but the other, aud the main question is, is the holding of man as pro-
perty, under all circumstances, a sin ? I shall uot enter into a critical er '
tion of particular passages of Scripture. My brethren have touched o

278

and gentlemen who follow may touch on others, but I shall go into the general
argument. I hope it will he distinctly understood that I do not enter into the
consideration of that relationship which God established between the Jew
and his hired servant, or between the Jew and his bondsmau. Those relation-
ships are well defined, and if I had time to go into them, I would show that
they were arranged for the protection of the poor man, and not to enrich the
master. The whole arrangement was a covering of the Lord thrown over
the unfortunate. But it will be remembered, that in connexion with that law
of Moses, another law was given ; and it was this, " he that stealeth a man
and selleth him, or if he be fonnd in his hand,he shall surely be put to death."
Another enactment was, that every Jew who made merchandise of his
brother should be put to death. Now the relationship I discuss, is that
relationship. Whatever quibbles may be raised to attempt to draw me from
that point, there I stand ; aud if I succeed in shewing that slavery, as it now
exists, comes under the condemnation of that law, then the curse of God will
fall upon it ; and the relationship of servitude, which the Bible justifies,
applies to something else, but not to the matter under the consideration of
this Convention. Does this relationship of slave-holding come under the
term, "man-theft?" By the Congress of the United States a law was
passed making it piracy to take a man in any way from the shores of
Africa, or any other shores, except our own, and bring him into the country
for merchandize, for the purposes of slavery. It was constituted felony,
and the penalty of death was annexed to "the crime. And, why 2 For the
same reason that South Carolina has her law ; for she would refer to the
Bible if she could, which says, that every man who steals a man shall be put
to death. Now, if you, Sir, should go into South Carolina, and buy a man, a
man of promising intellect, and take him into the free states, educate him,
and throw around him the blessings of Christianity, a South Caroliner would
follow and arrest you, and before a jury of South Carolina men you would be
put on your trial for life and death, for stealing the man. They would not
hang you for stealing 400 or 500 dollars' worth of property ; but if under the
circumstances I have mentioned, yon purchase a man, they will carry the
extreme sentence of the law into execution. Now, whence originated
slavery 2 Somebody stole the man at first ; and I care not, though he has
passed 10,000 bills of sale, every one who has attempted to give a title in
him has given a thief's title ; and I have yet to learn, that a felonious title
by transfer becomes virtuous aud valid. If, then, I could get a slave-holder
before a South Carolina jury, and they would be honest to their oath, they
would hang every slave-holder in the land. They hold unto that title, and
it is man-theft. When we talk of slavery, what is the relation 2 It is not that
of master and servant merely ; to that we object not. What is it 2 It is not
starving a mau, or withholding wages from the labourer ; that is not slavery.
I doubt not but that mauy are guilty of that who hold no slaves. I doubt not
but that in British manufactories you might find children suffering that injus-
tice ; you will find them in America, but thauk God they are not slaves.
All kinds of injustice are perpetrated by man ; but that is not slavery.
It may follow under slavery, slavery may open the flood-gates to all these
iniquities ; bnt slavery stands prominent, lifted up, rank, and odious, above the
whole. It is the relationship for which so many apologies are attempted.
Allow me to refer with great reverence to the creation of man. When God
made the world, aud the suu, and the moon, aud the stars, and the cattle

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upon a thousand hills, He pronounced them all " very good." But when
He put an intellectual being into man, and said, « Let us make man."
How? Grovelling like the animals, and destitute of intellect and of
moral faeulties ? No ; " Let us make man in our image," and " in the
image of God ereated He him, male and female created He them.
Man was distinguished, and when He had made him He gave him an inven-
tory of property. What is the inventory? It is the cattle on the hills, the
beasts of the forest, the fowls of the air, and the fishes of the sea. It is a
large inventory ; hut look it over. Do you find man put in that inventory ?
Is man to he aecounted property ? No. This inventory was rehearsed by
David in the Psalms ; but man is not reckoned. Now why should God esta-
blish the penalty of death for stealing a man ? In connexion with that law
yon will fiud another. Pardon me for dwelling so long upon the relation,
but I wish to get the definition. If man may be the property of man, then
his value may be fouud out. Another law was annexed to the law to whieh I
have alluded. If a man stole an ox, or a sheep, was he to be put to death ?
No ; he was to restore five oxen for au ox, and four sheep for a sheep. "Why ?
Beeause there was not the same relation in the one ease as in the other.
Man holds a higher relation in the scale of being than cattle, and, therefore,
is not, and eannot be made, the property of his fellow. I know it will be
urged here, that the law which was thrown around a servant to proteet his
life, says, " If a mau smite his servant, or his maid, with a rod, and he die
under his hand, he shall be surely punished. Notwithstanding, if he con-
tinue a day or two, he shall not be punished ; for he is his money." The term
has often been used, that nobody has a right to hold property in man. I
think in one sense he has. If I pledge myself to any man for six months'
labour, that man has an interest in my bones, and sinews, and museles.
If I die he loses that property. That was the case here. You will find
on examination, that he was the Jew's hired servant for six years ; he had
money vested in the man, and the man owed him a certain amount of labour.
But no Jew could sell either his bondman or his hired servant ; he eould not
traffie in man. The root and essence of slavery, I conceive to be, the taking
of an immortal man— a man endowed with intelleet, and on whom is stamped
Jehovah's image,— a rational, immortal, responsible being, having eertain
inalienable rights established eoeval with his being, blotting out this relation
and redneing him to a property relatiou. When once you have established
the right of one man over another, as men have right over property,
you have blotted out all human relations and elaims. You have ehanged
the constitution of man and made him property. That this is the
relatiou of man in slave countries none can doubt : it is claimed and
exercised. In Weld's slave law, there are several legal judgments, proving
this faet. One case, I remember, occurred in North Carolina. A person of
the name of Mann was tried for the murder of his slave. He attempted to
iufliet eorporal punishment on a woman ; she fled ; he took his gun and shot
her. The judge in that ease directed an aeqnittal. The evidenee was elear,
the judge goes into it, and he talks in one point of view like a Christian, in
another like a erazy man. Most deeply he eould feel as a man, most deeply
he eould feel as a Christian, and he states that if he were sitting there to
judge as a moralist, his eourse would be plain ; but, he adds, while slavery
eontinues, the power of the master must be absolute. If on the principles of
morality yoti begin to strike at the power of the master, where, ean you stop,

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till you Lave rooted up the whole system ? There has been a going forth
without the enclosure of the rights of morality, but security is found within^
the establishment of the relation. Let me briefly inquire what is the peculiar
sin of tbis relation. It strikes me that the great sin is not that it injures man.
I can feel that most deeply, I do at this moment feel it, for the millions who
groan in bondage. It is an outrage on all the rights of man, but to me this
appears not the greatness of the sin. When David had slain Uiiiah with the
sword, what was his confession 1 He had injured Uiiiah ; he had done
exceedingly vile in the matter : but where lay his sin ? Ob, he felt himself in
the presence of an infinite God, who had stamped his image upon that
Uriah. " Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy
sight." We should never forget that sin arises from the violation of tbe
divine precepts. When a man sheds the blood of a beast, he may by so doing
invade the rights of his neighbour ; but when he sheds the blood of a man,
the injury done to man is nothing in comparison with the invasion of the
rights of Jehovah, whose image is enstamped upon man. He who takes a
man, and reduces him from the intellectual position in the scale of being
where God has placed him, to a thing, a chattel ; desecrates Jehovah's image.
Every slave-holder in the world has got his foot, I speak it with reverence,
upon God's representative, upon that being whom He has been pleased to
stamp with his own image, and God is directly dishonoured whenever man is
attempted to be made a thing. I hope that this view of the subject will
fasten itself upon the mind of every Christian. By establishing the very
relation, whether he be kind or unkind is immaterial, he has committed the
great sin against God, he has taken his image and put it under his foot ; and
when he takes him to the market, he makes merchandize of the representative
of God. A shuddering comes over me when I think of this subject. When
the slave holder shall come before God, he will find that his war has been not
with the poor man trembling in the dust, but with that God who made man
his representative. Another sin resulting from this relation is, that it at once
deprives the victim of all the rights and claims predicated of his position in
the scale of manhood. Whatever he receives is gratuitous. When once you
have consigned man to thingship ; then the thingship relation is the only one
that can attach to him. The law has made him something else than he was
originally, and with one fell swoop has blotted out that law which God has
written concerning him. Hence, it is the law of America, that a slave can
neither plead nor be pleaded for, he cannot be known, save in his master ; and
therefore he is goods and chattels to all intents and purposes whatever.
Whatever is withheld from him, it is congenial with the relation established ;
the relation demands that it be withheld. I would put it to any gentleman
who may stand up in this Convention, and defend the relation under any
possible circumstances, whether he can put his finger upon any rights of man-
hood left me when I myself am sold. A few days since I met witb a country-
man from Savannah, who contended that the slaves had the rights of manhood
left to them. I inquired, " Do your brethren sell their brethren V He replied
in the affirmative. I then asked him, "When your brethren have sold the
soul and body of man, what rights of humanity can be left to him ? if he gets
them it is gratuitous. If the relation be a righteous one, he gets a gratuity ;
but if it be an unrighteous one, those who establish it are unrighteous, and
not those only, but the relation itself shall be accursed. Again, this re-
lation establishes a defined, recognised right to all the means and inflictions

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necessary to conform the vietim to the relation. Why all those horrible laws
in Ameriea ? Why all those abominable laws in every slave holding eountry ?
Is it because slave holders are notoriously more unkind than other men 2 Is it
beeause they love to inflict punishment for cruelty's sake ? Oh ! no. The
necessity arises out of the relation whieh has been established. You must
hold me in the relation of a slave ; I do not stay there naturally, I must be
held there with violence. The slave must be erushed to his eondition ; one
thing after another must be taken from him, till he will consent to be a thing.
Let the profoundest religionist hold a slave, and let that slave attempt to get
his freedom, there is the issue between us. If the religionist be right, the slave
is wrong. If the slave be wrong, then the master is justified in using all the
inflictio'ns necessary to seeure the eontinuanee of the relation. Henee,
all the horrid catalogue of evils, inflietions and privations which make the
slave distriets, dark, and gloomy, and dreadful, are but the legitimate result,
the neeessary and never-failing result, of the relation established. There
has been in our country a number of attempts to enlighten the slaves, to
<rive them edueation. Christians have started up and said, " We eanuot
endure this -we must enlighten and instruct our slaves." But the moment
they begin to enlighten the slave, they undermine the relation. Light
and slavery cannot live together. Could you take this Convention to
America, and by any proeess under heaven, make its members slaves?
Could any of us be made slaves? No. Why? We have been favoured
with light and knowledge. Impart those blessings to slaves, and eould
you hold them in slavery? In our country the knowledge of the North
Star, that agitator of the south, has liberated more slaves than all other
means together ; for they have found out, that under its light there is a land
of freedom. Thus, when you have established the relation, you have esta-
blished the necessity of shackling the mind in darkness. Hence all slave
legislation in Ameriea has been direeted to that end. They have gone as
systematically and as meehanieally to work to crush man's mind, and hold
him in ignoranec, as if they had got a machine to take off his skull, to pare-
off the phrenological bumps, and leave but just enough intelleet to plant a
sugar eane, or rear eotton in the field. It has been a systematic effort whieh
has grown out of the relation : you eannot eontinue the relation aud improve
the intellect. Again, the establishment of this relation puts it out of the
power of the owner, either to be kind to his slave, or to protect him, if he
wishes it, in any of the rights of his mauhood. This may be thought to be
taking very strong ground ; but we have learned to take strong ground. If I
have a battle to fight with an enemy, and there is a hill between us, I will
o-o to the top and not stop half way up it. To illustrate the impossibility of a
master being land to his slave, let me put this case. When a man has robbed
me of my whole estate, and holds it in his grasp, and I am poor, and with
my family laeking bread, can that man do me au aet of kindness ? Suppose,
under these eircumstances, he were to come and say, " I do not like to see
your family suffering, and therefore I have brought you a loaf of bread."
What would I say ? Don't eome to add insult to injury ; give me baek my own,
and I shall not want the loaf from you : be just before you are kind. What
greater injury can a man do me, than to take me and make me a slave !
When he makes me a slave, he withholds from me the right of labouring for
myself. I ask, if he by possibility ean do me a kind act. He eannot. Every
act of professed kindness is hypocrisy andinsult. Talk of a kind slave-owner,

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it is a thing unknowu. In other respects he may be kind, but he never can
be a kind slave-holder. He must first do an act of justice, he must give me
back my own, and then he may talk of being generous. But it is out of his
power to protect me. Let me give you one or two cases. Sometime since a
Doctob. in one of our "Western States, out of kindness, purchased a man,
intending to give him his freedom, when lie should have worked out the
price he paid for him. At the time the abolitionists raised up a shout
against it ; their testimony against the Doctob. was, that he was holding an
unnatural relation. A complaint was made that we were unkind ; that, for-
sooth, it was a very kind act on the part of the Doctob.. But we contended
that the Doctob. had no right to sanctify present evil with good intentions,
that he had no right to hold a hair of his head in slavery ; that he might die
or break, and therefore he held the man iu jeopardy. It so happened, that in
some of his speculations the Doctob. did fail, and now poor Ambrose is toil-
ing in the cotton field. He could not prevent that man from being sold, he
could not protect him. Another instance ; In 1832, I was in the city of Rich-
mond. A friend, five miles off, sent his barouche to fetch me to breakfast.
The driver was a coloured man, and on the way, I asked him if he knew any
thing about Jesus. lie replied, " I do, Sir ; I have for many years been a
member of a Baptist church in Richmond, and am a legalised preacher of the
gospel." What ! said I, and a slave too ? " Yes." What a sensation it
created in my mind ! Do you preach now ? " Yes, on the plantation ; there
has been a reformation there," aud he meutioned circumstances which I will
not stop to relate. I asked if he had a wife. He said, " Yes, and two children."
Does she belong to your master ? " No, but to a widow woman yonder, who
is a member of the church." Is she a good woman ? is your master kind ?
" Yes, he gives me hours to go and see her, and her mistress loves her like a
sister ; she is very good." I expressed pleasure that their master and mis-
tress were so kind, and that he could go to see his little ones. " Oh," he
said, " there is a bad thing ; her mistress is poor, I expect every day that she
will break, and my wife will be sold ;" and he paused ; « perhaps to the
south, and I shall see her no more ;" and he paused again, and added, " per-
haps to some wretch who will abuse her." What a hateful, cursed relation
to that sister in Christ, that mistress that continued the relation of pro-
perty ! A change in the price of cotton and tobacco, and she could not retain
her in her possession. Trace the history, and what is the result ? The price
of cotton fluctuates, it goes down, her mistress breaks, and the woman is
brought under the auctioneer's hammer. There stands, perhaps, the deacon
of a church of which she is a member, and bids for this good woman ; the
wife of a minister of the gospel,— a religions woman. Is not that putting
Christ in the market 2 All this is under the necessitous control of the law.
She must take the fate of property ; it is out of the power of her mistress to
protect her. If she were abused, if she were insulted, while she continued
the wife of that minister, where is the redress ? If she is injured in ber
labour, her mistress can get redress ; but she cannot protect her virtue, her
religion, her morality. There is uo law for their protection ; they are not
known as men and women ; they are only known as things, property, goods
and chattels. This unnatural relation is the root of all the evils which legi-
timately grow from slavery. I have been much pained since I have been in
this Couvention. I never can treat the land of my birth lightly. You may
consider mc an enthusiast if you please ; but I believe that, notwithstanding

these evils, America is as good as any other land. Yon may thiuk it strange
that I should enter into what may appear to some an apology tor the slave-
holder If I were to come to the mercy seat, beside the slave-holder from the
south to-day, I would get into the dust as low as he did, and I would say,
« Lord, though in mercy I have heen awakened, and brought to repentance,
yet for years I justified the relation in which my brother stands, and which
has resulted in all the evil that flows from it." The abuses of the relation I
have shown to be the result of legislation. Onr legislators have to do, what ?
To frame the very laws, to carry out that unnatural relation which causes
confusion, and discord, and destruction, in whatever community you _ thrust
it • and England has been aiding us, and British Christians have been justify-
ing the relation, and admitting the right. We have been attempting to
carry out a relation, which no one can carry out. And what has been the
result * Onr country suffers the reproach. At this moment there are thou-
sands in the slave-holding community who deplore the existence of so great an
evil, and they talk of mending it. When you speak of destroying it, they
say "Paul sent back Onesimus." When yon talk of pulling up the whole
tree, « Oh Moses had slaves, and Abraham, the good old patriarch, had slaves;
von must not touch the relation." While by the sanction of the world they
are cherishing the relation, they are mourning like yon over the desolations
spread around it, and you must bring your whole power to bear on the
relation itself. Let me say a word for the church of Christ. I have wept
with members of the church over this evil in the night watches. It has
brought me to the dust; our churches have felt it, and they feel it now.
Our brethren come here, and how are they received? A _ slave-holding
minister comes from the south, and you say, "Sick of the evils of slavery
as I am, cannot yon make it better?" « I am trying to do it-I treat
mine like children." And what do you do? You send that man back
with his chains and manacles on, and yon have strengthened^ him in his
attempt to maintain the relation that brings these horrid evils. Change
vour voice, and let it be uncontrolled by personal interest. Tell hun
that the relation is wrong. When yon meet a brother, say, Are you
from the slave states? "Yes." Do you hold slaves "Yes, I have one
he had a cruel master, and he wanted me to buy him." Do yon hold him as
a slave' "I do." The question is, what yon must say to him. _ If yon give
your sanction to the relation, yon support all that we hold evil m the laud
Yon must tell him that the evils of slavery are all germinated in the root
of slavery, Say to him, "Brother, you have no right to hold that man
as property; go back, and do justice by giving him his freedom. TV hen
the church from north to south, has been made to feel this ; then and not til
then, shall we cure the evil of slavery. We have been made to feel the evil
more deeply than our brethren in England; we are, as I before said nearer
to the battle-field. I hold in my hand a document which has arrived from
America to-day ; the address of the American Baptist Anti-slavery Conven-
tion to the southern Baptist slave-holders. I will read the conclusion of the
address "We have had labour after labour, toil after toil, to bring the
matter to this point. They would agree to go for curing the evil but not o
refuse fellowship with the man who holds property m man ; but thank the
Lorithey have come to it now." « Finally," say the Convention consis ing
of 110 persons, assembled from thirteen states, at the written call of n
than 400 ministers, and between 200 and 300 laymen

" Finally, if you should

284

(which heaven avert) ! remain deaf to the voice of warning and entreaty • if
you still cling to the power-maintaiued privilege of living on unpaid toil, and
of claiming as property the image of God, which Jesus hought with his most
precious blood, we solemnly declare, as we fear the Lord, that we cannot and
dare not, recognise you as consistent brethren in Christ. We cannot join in
partial, selfish prayers, that the groans of the slave may be unheard ; we
cannot hear preaching which makes God the author and approver of human
misery and vassalage ; and we cannot, at the Lord's table, cordially take that
as a brother's hand, which plies the scourge on woman's naked flesh, which
thrusts a gag into the mouth of man ;" (let me say here, that the Congress of
the United States, in solemn conclave assembled, have resolved that slaves
shall not petition, that they shall not pray) ; « which thrusts a gag into the
mouth of men, which rivets fetters on the innocent, and which shuts up the
Bible from human eyes. We deplore your condition ; we pray for your
deliverance ; and God forbid that we should ever sin against him by ceasing
so to pray." We begin to see the dawn of brighter days. Hearts hitherto
cramped, and fettered, and pained, lift up the expectation that freedom will
come at last to the church of God from this act of justice. We have been
fettered at every step. You know that men high in authority in the church or
in the state are not the men for reform. When they are at the top of the wheel,
they care not that it should revolve, lest they should come down. These
always stand out against reformation ; and so it has been in the denomination
to which I belong. I cannot say, like the author of the letter, from which I
have just read, that our churches are a great cause of the coutinnance of
slavery in our land ; but I must add, that there are men, I believe, in those
churches, deeply implicated in the sin, and wheu we have attempted to speak
out, an effort has been made to place a gag on our mouths. There are some
sitting here from my own shores, who know what we have to meet, and I can
better appreciate the course of my brethren than mauy who have spoken of
them on this side of the water. « Why come," it is said, " to a Convention of
the leaders of any church, aud begin to' touch upon this ;" and the hand is
upon your mouth ; "we know all about it ; we live here, we feel as much
opposed to slavery as any men can do ; hut do not say a word about it, or you
will hurt the cause of the slave. The hoary head will shake the reverend
locks upon you with fearful rebuke." Notwithstanding such expostulations,
we got out a call for the Convention, and the leaders of the missionary opera-
tions in New York took the pains to appoint their meeting on the same day,
and at the same hour. I was then met in the city with a remark of this kind,
" Had you uot better give up your meeting ? Let it pass over. You will hurt
the anti-slavery cause if you hold it at the same time with the missionary
meetings." We shook the head, we had been inveigled enough. We declared
our determination to go straight forward with what we had in view ; and if
we had but a few, we knew that they would be a tried few. We took our
station, 150 friends were present from different parts of the United States,
our meeting was full, and the dignitaries had empty seats to which to preach!
The people were found in our body, and they came together like Christians.
I have read you the close of their address to the south. They have taken up
the matter in earnest ; and let me say, that I cannot express with what deep
solicitude they look to their brethren of different denominations in this
country that love the Lord. They look to you, expecting that you will stand
by them on that ground, to which they have made their way with so much

toil, and refuse connexion with those wlio profit by all the evils of slavery
wherever it exists. They look to you to take them by the hand. We feel
•we need it. Many have been aroused to stand up in the cause of the down-
trodden slave. We have felt great pleasure in coming to this Convention.
The cordiality with which I have been received in England has cheered me,
and I shall go back refreshed, to toil in America. I went to one church to
preach, and a good old man said, " I wonder if he is an anti-slavery man."
Let the question be put to every man who comes here from our side of the
water, and you will materially strengthen the cause.

Dr. GREVILLE.— After the expression of feeling which has been elicited
by the stirring address just delivered, I hope you will not imagine that I
am about to bring forward anything which can tend to repress that feeling.
I propose, however, to substitute another resolution for the fourth, and, I
hope, it will be pne which will fully meet the views of those gentlemen who,
it will be recollected, felt some scruples on the subject when it was before us
on a former occasion. I think it will he admitted that I have not compro-
mised in any degree the principle for which we contend. As a member of
the Established Church of this country, I am of opinion, that whenever